Man who pulled BB gun on paramedics and Tesco staff in Cambridgeshire avoids jail

Dramatic video footage captured the moment armed police challenged a man who threatened Tesco staff with an imitation gun.

The armed officers can be seen shouting at Floyd Coppolaro and forcing him to lie on the ground after he pulled a BB gun on staff and paramedics in the car park in Cambridgeshire.

Staff at Tesco in Abbots Ripton Road, Huntingdon, called the ambulance service after finding Floyd Coppolaro slumped over the wheel of his BMW in the car park on 11 March in 2023.

When paramedics checked over the 48-year-old he became aggressive, before pulling out what they believed to be a small black handgun.

Armed officers arrived and arrested Coppolaro and located the gun, which they confirmed to be a BB gun, under the front passenger seat.

Drugs were also found in the vehicle.

Coppolaro was arrested again in June in Ramsey after he was found passed out in the town with a knife and class A drugs in his possession.

At Peterborough Crown Court, Coppolaro, of Serjeants Close, Ramsey, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, after previously pleading guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possession of a class C drug, possession with intent to supply heroin and possession of an offensive weapon.

Det Con Lee Hurley said: “The members of staff and paramedics were simply concerned for Coppolaro’s welfare that day.

"They were not to know that it was an imitation firearm.

“We take the carrying of weapons of any kind very seriously and will do all we can to bring offenders to justice.”

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