9 Investigates: Ocoee police officer who fired into wrong home feels he was ‘scapegoat'

OCOEE, Fla. — An Ocoee police officer who fired into a home he was sent to due to dispatcher error, is set to be sentenced in Orange County court.

Carlos Anglero was convicted in January of shooting into a building, even after he testified that he saw the homeowner inside with a gun and feared for his life.

This week, he sat down for an exclusive interview with investigative reporter Karla Ray. Anglero faces 15 years in prison, but his attorney is hoping a judge will instead withhold adjudication.

No one was hurt during the February 2016 incident. The homeowner testified during trial that one of the bullets flew by his head.

Anglero is the only person who was charged in the case, and he feels like he’s become the scapegoat for something that would have never happened without someone else’s mistake.

“I had no idea that was the homeowner,” Anglero said.  “I did what I was trained to do.”

Anglero and other officers were sent to the home after a dispatcher failed to input the correct address of a domestic violence call.

“I wouldn’t have been there if the dispatcher did her job properly,” Anglero said.

Prosecutors argued successfully that Anglero was careless, and couldn’t see where he was shooting when he pulled the trigger on his duty weapon.  The homeowner testified that he never heard the officers announce themselves as police when they woke him up by banging on the door.

“There was no doubt in my mind he was defending his family, and I was doing what I had to do to defend myself and my fellow officers,” Anglero said.

Anglero testified in his January trial and told 9 Investigates ahead of his sentencing that he was in fear for his life, despite prosecutors arguing the homeowner never raised his weapon.

“Training takes over. It’s survival at that point. It’s survival. There’s a guy with a gun,” Anglero said.

Anglero and his attorney believes he could end up paying with his freedom, so that others can possibly avoid paying a settlement.

“This wouldn’t be the first time, when an individual is just trying to do his job, and is then given up as a sacrificial lamb, in hopes of avoiding a hefty civil judgment,” attorney James Smith said.

The other officer who fired her weapon was not indicted, but is no longer working for Ocoee police.  She received a payment from Ocoee after filing a lawsuit against her former department.

WATCH: Anglero's interview with Karla Ray

Cox Media Group