Florida Woman Mistakenly Shot at After Father and Son Think She's a Burglar

A man and his teenage son in Winter Haven, Florida, were arrested after they shot at an innocent woman they mistakenly believed was trying to break into their home after a neighbor dropped off a package at their front door.

“This ranks among the craziest stuff that I have seen in a while and I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in an Oct. 17 news conference.

Both Gino Colonacosta, 73, and his son, 15, live in an apartment complex. A neighbor accidentally received medicine meant for them and delivered it to their residence, hanging it on the front door before leaving.

Judd explained that the Colonacostas have a Ring doorbell and saw a man was at the front door, prompting them to believe someone was trying to break in.

“Are you kidding me? The dude is being a good neighbor and he simply goes there and returns the package to the appropriate address,” Judd said.

Colonacosta and his son each armed themselves with a gun and made it about 100 yards from the house looking for the person they thought was going to break into the home when they came upon a woman in a running car looking at her cell phone, according to Judd.

“When she looks up and she sees Gino standing at the back of her vehicle with a gun pointed at her, screaming for her to get out of the car, she thinks, ‘He’s about to carjack me, he’s going to rob me,’” Judd said.

The woman slammed the car in reverse to get out of the way, hitting another vehicle in the process. Rocky ran over, thinking the woman was trying to back into him, so he shot at the car, with his father joining in, Judd reported. They fired a total of seven shots.

“The two of them shot at an innocent lady sitting in her car where she had the right to be, looking at her cell phone,” Judd said.

The woman was not struck by any gunfire and was able to drive away, then called the police, who investigated the matter and learned that one of the bullets went through a car seat for a baby and got lodged in the driver’s seat.

“Our victim was that close to death and certainly had there been a baby in the car seat, the baby would’ve been killed,” Judd said.

Judd noted that while Florida has a stand-your-ground law, you can’t track down people and shoot them.

“That’s what they did. They searched people out to shoot them. And news flash: Even if the first guy, who would’ve been the burglary suspect, if he was, they shot the wrong person,” Judd said.

“You don’t shoot at people. You don’t leave the security of your home and go out and chase people down,” Judd added.

Neither father nor son have a prior criminal record.

Colonacosta was arrested on a charge of attempted felony murder, improper exhibit of a firearm, negligence, discharging a firearm in public, parent guardian allowing unlawful possession, conspiracy, aggravated assault with a weapon and contributing to delinquency, according to booking records. His son was arrested on a charge of attempted felony murder and other counts.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com