Toms River Actor Charged for Fake Gun During Movie Filming in Woodbridge

Woodbridge, NJ - A Toms River-based actor and stand-up comedian is saying he got a raw deal after Woodbridge police arrested him for brandishing a fake gun while filming a movie in a residential part of town last year.

Carlo Bellario said he answered a casting call to play a bodyguard in a “small independent film produced by a college student,” he said on his GoFundMe page.

On Nov. 16, 2015 he was filming a car chase scene on Ridgedale Avenue, where he was directed to act like he was shooting a gun at an oncoming car. The prop gun he used was an air soft pellet pistol.

“As soon as we returned from shooting the scene , the set was surrounded by police cars,” Bellario said. “Apparently residents in the neighborhood phoned the police and told them there were two guys driving around waving a gun out of the window.”

Bellario said he and others tried to explain to police that it was a movie shoot, and that the gun was a decoy.

However, after several minutes of questioning, Woodbridge police determined that neither the producer nor the director had a permit to film, nor did they have a permit for the prop gun.

“I was the only one arrested that day for possession of a handgun, and now face up to five years of prison,” he said.

Bellario was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, Woodbridge police confirmed to Patch. The filmmakers did not have any type of permission, nor did they notify any department, including the police, that they would be shooting a movie on Ridgedale Avenue, Captain Roy Hoppock said.

Movie producer abandoned him, Bellario said

The struggling actor said he started the GoFundMe page to appeal to the entertainment industry to help one of their own.

“I spent four days at Middlesex County jail until my family was able to post bond for me,” Bellario wrote. “The producer of the movie told my family that he would indeed bail me out, but when he found out the bail was $10,000 he declined to help and left me there and left my family frantic as to how to arrange bail and get me released. He ignored my family’s phone calls and subsequently my family had to lay out over $4,500 thus far for the bail bondsman and other expenses.”

An attorney for the producer said he did attempt to post bail for Bellario and was told he could not do so.

Bellario said he does not fault the police or the residents who called 911.

“As actors we all want to work and get ourselves exposure, but we also need to hold the industry to (a) higher standard as well and serve as a valuable (lesson) to not let what happened to me happen to other actors,” he wrote.

Photo: Carl Bellario in a photo on his GoFundMe page.