Bruno Kalonji said everyone he knew recommended that he sue his new neighbors after Robert and Branden Canoles held his parents, who they had mistaken for burglars, at gunpoint until sheriff's deputies arrived and arrested the couple.
"We don't want to take anything else away from them," said Kalonji, who initiated a meeting with the Canoleses on Sunday at their attorney's office in Covington.
Kalonji said he found Robert Canoles, 45, and his 18-year-old son -- both of whom were arrested and charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal trespass -- sincerely apologetic about what happened to his parents, Angelica and Jean-Joseph Kolonji.
"I felt they were really sorry about the mistake they had made," Bruno Kalonji said.
The two families held a joint news conference Wednesday afternoon in Covington. As Channel 2 Action News' cameras rolled, the neighbors embraced, and the Canoleses gave the Kalonjis a housewarming gift -- a cake.
“We hope to be good neighbors a long time, and we can fish together,” Robert Canoles said to Jean-Joseph Kalonji.
“It was a big misunderstanding,” Robert Canoles told Channel 2. “[We] just got scared, didn’t know what to think that night.”
Branden Canoles said, “I just hope everything will be OK between all of us.”
“I accept in all my heart the apologies,” said Angelica Kalonji, adding that she and her husband are “ready to be the best neighbors now and forever.”
The families' first, less cordial meeting occurred April 19 after Bruno Kalonji closed his purchase of 11 acres in rural Newton County. His parents, who live with him, went to the modest home to change the locks.
Robert Canoles said in a prior interview that he was unaware the property next door had been sold. Upon spotting the elder Kalonjis messing with the locks, he and his son grabbed their AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifles and confronted them.
When the couple could not produce documents verifying they owned the home, Canoles called 911.
Newton County sheriff's deputies arrived and arrested the Kalonjis, charging them with loitering and prowling. Those charges were dismissed April 23. That night, the Canoleses -- who say they were praised by deputies four days earlier for their quick action forestalling a crime -- were arrested. They have since been released on bond to await trial.
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office has promised an internal investigation into the deputies’ actions.
Bruno Kalonji, who coaches the women's soccer team at Georgia Perimeter College, said he hopes Wednesday's news conference will help educate the public.
"We want to show people forgiveness," he said. "And we also want people to think about what could've happened. I mean, my parents could've been shot. Thank God that didn't happen."
Noting that the Canoleses face serious charges, Kalonji said he'd be willing to testify on their behalf if necessary.
"They've never had a criminal record," Kalonji said. "I don't want to see their entire lives ruined."
-- Staff writer David Ibata contributed to this article.
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