Gino Colonacosta Bio – Gino Colonacosta Wiki
Gino Colonacosta and his 15-year-old son stalked and shot at a woman sitting in her car outside of her apartment. They thought she was the “burglar” who triggered their doorbell camera, but a different neighbour was returning a misdelivered package
AGE:
Gino Colonacosta 73 years old.
DETAIL OF INCIDENCE:
A father and his teen son were arrested after Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the two fired shots toward a woman they suspected of trying to burglarize their apartment home on Saturday.
The father-son duo faces multiple charges, including attempted murder, Judd said during a news conference. Until Saturday, they both had a clean record.
Before sharing details on the investigation, Judd said, “This ranks among the craziest stuff I’ve seen in a while…and I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff.”
The incident began at around 7 a.m. On Saturday, the sheriff said, a neighbour at the apartment complex on Cypress Gardens Road in Winter Haven received prescription medication delivered to the wrong address and walked it to the correct apartment.
Upon sticking it to the door of his neighbour, Gino Colonacosta, he and his 15-year-old son received an alert from the Ring doorbell camera, Judd said.
According to Judd, the two assumed their apartment was about to be broken into. That’s when Judd said Colonacosta, 73, and his teen son armed themselves with .45 calibre handguns and went outside to search for the suspected burglar. The neighbour had already returned home.
Almost a football field away from their apartment, Colonacosta noticed a dark-coloured car with dark windows. The engine was running, and a woman was sitting in the vehicle, Judd said.
In the next moment, authorities said Colonacosta, armed with a gun and his cane, pointed his firearm at her window and yelled for her to “get out of the car.” In a panic, she reversed her car, striking another vehicle in the parking lot.
The teen son heard the commotion and drew closer. Judd said the son thought the woman was trying to back into him, so he began firing shots into the car. That’s when the father started firing shots toward the car before the woman hit multiple vehicles in an attempt to speed away.
“The two of them shot at an innocent lady,” Judd said.
Seven shots were fired in total, the sheriff’s office reports.
Colonacosta let out five shots, and his son fired twice, records show. A bullet went through a car seat and was found lodged into the driver’s seat. However, a child was not in the car at the shooting time.
The woman was not hit or injured during the gunfire. She reached a nearby Circle K gas station on Cypress Gardens Boulevard and contacted the sheriff’s office. Judd said that’s when an investigation began.
At the same time, the father and son also returned to their apartment and notified law enforcement of what happened. The two were later arrested.
Colonacosta is charged with contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child, possession of firearms by a minor under 18, conspiracy, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, attempted felony murder, culpable negligence, discharging a firearm in public or on residential property and improper exhibition of dangerous weapons or firearms.