Police say man accused of firing shots from road was hallucinating

Orlando Police said they tried for hours to negotiate with an armed man accused of shooting aimlessly from the middle of a Lake Nona road Wednesday morning.

Stephanos Carellas was disoriented and appeared to be hallucinating, police said. He barricaded himself in a Nissan Sentra in the middle of Dowden Road near Randal Park Boulevard, causing officials to shut down several streets and an apartment complex.

So when officers who were scouting with binoculars from a distance say they saw Carellas was frustrated and his silver handgun appeared jammed, they knew this was their opportunity.

SWAT fired multiple rounds of tear gas and the 22-year-old man opened his door.

Police said Carellas still had the gun in his hand, so officers hit him with a bean bag, a non-lethal ammunition meant to stun a suspect.

Authorities say the two-hour ordeal near Narcoossee Road could have ended in tragedy but officers were able to arrest Carellas without anyone being injured.

“We could have used lethal force ... but we took advantage of the situation knowing he had a malfunction with his gun and did what we had to do,” said Orlando Police Deputy Chief Robert Anzueto.

He said it all started about 7:50 a.m. when frightened witnesses near the Colonial Grand at Randal Lakes apartment complex called 911 about someone shooting from a car.

A woman told officers she was waiting at Dowden Road near Randal Park Boulevard when she saw Carellas standing outside his car shooting into the air, an arrest affidavit said.

He looked at her so she veered away and called authorities, the report states.

A lawn worker said he saw someone walking near his vehicle and when he went to investigate, Carellas pointed the gun at him, the arrest report said.

The worker “used his lawnmower as protection” and called police.

When officers responded, Anzueto said, they “didn’t know what this guy was capable of doing because there were witnesses on scene saying ‘he’s firing from the gun, he’s firing from the car.’ ”

When an officer pulled up in front of him, Carellas was sitting in the front seat, lifted the gun and pointed it at the officer, an arrest affidavit said.

The police officer called for back up. Dozens of law enforcement vehicles flooded the area, including

Two large, gray SWAT trucks flanked his car so he couldn’t drive off.

Over the next two hours, Carellas didn’t cooperate or reply to officers who tried to speak with him over a loudspeaker, Anzueto said.

Officers closed off the roads around Colonial Grand and Randal Lakes apartment complex and told drivers to turn around. Law enforcement also blocked off most of Dowden Road toward Narcoossee Road.

Carellas was taken into custody shortly before 10 a.m.

He faces a number of charges, including two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm against a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault with a firearm, discharging a firearm in public and resisting an officer without violence. multiple SWAT vehicles.