Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in an interview with the The Orlando Sentinel published Tuesday that he stood by urging his constituents to use lethal force to defend their homes in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Other Florida officials have offered similar advice to residents. But Judd said two of his constituents took it too far.
Judd, sheriff of the central Florida county, drew headlines for his October 8 interview with Fox News where he offered a course of action for residents worried their homes would be targeted by looters in the chaos that followed Ian.
“I would highly suggest that if a looter breaks into your home, comes into your home while you’re there to steal stuff, that you take your gun and you shoot him,” said Judd. “You shoot him so that he looks like grated cheese. Because you know what? That’s one looter that won’t break into anyone else’s home and take advantage of them when they’re the most vulnerable and the most weak.”
Two weeks later, Judd announced at an October 17 news conference that Winter Haven resident Gino Colonacosta, 73, and his 15-year-old son Rocky Colonacosta had been charged with attempted murder, accused of firing seven times at a woman parked outside their home.
Judd described how the incident began when a neighbor dropped off prescription medication, which had been mistakenly delivered, to the Colonacostas’ front door. That triggered an alert for their Ring doorbell apps on their phones, and both emerged outside armed with .45-caliber handguns as they searched for a potential intruder, Judd said.
The two spotted a woman 100 yards from their house, sitting in her car while looking at messages on her phone, said Judd. The woman looked up to see Gino Colonacosta pointing his gun at her and screaming for her to get out of car, according to Judd. Thinking she was being robbed, the woman threw the car into reverse and drove off as the two fired seven shots at her, said Judd.
The woman wasn’t struck, but one bullet hit an empty child’s car seat and another lodged into the driver’s seat of the car, the sheriff said.
“Our victim was that close to death, and certainly, had there been a baby in the car seat, the baby would’ve been killed,” he told reporters.
Judd said the two didn’t understand what he called Florida’s “wonderful” Stand Your Ground law, which allows someone to use deadly force if they feel threatened without the obligation to retreat. Calling the actions of the Colonacostas “really, really stupid,” Judd said the law doesn’t allow people to go out and search for suspected burglars and shoot at them.
Judd told the Sentinel that “society can never stop the one-offs in life” and reiterated that Florida’s Stand Your Ground law didn’t apply in their situation.
Newsweek has reached out to the Florida state attorney for Polk County for comment.
