An Ocala man was arrested Monday after he allegedly threatened his roommate with an assault rifle – the second time in eight days he’s been taken to jail for pointing the high-powered weapon at someone.
A man who was visibly shaking initially met Monday with a Marion County sheriff’s deputy at his residence at 37 Juniper Pass Dr., No. 3. But he quickly asked the deputy if they could speak at a difference location because he was afraid one of his roommates, 24-year-old Anthony Armando Head, “would kill him,” a sheriff’s office report states.
The man told the deputy that Head had stayed with a girlfriend the night before. While he was away, the man said, he and another roommate smoked marijuana and used one of Head’s pipes, which accidently was broken, the report says.
The man said the three of them left the apartment the following day to take the third roommate to work and on the way, their vehicle ran out of gas. While they were standing on the side of the road, the man said Head mentioned a court hearing from a previous case and allegedly said that if things didn’t go his way, “he was going to shoot up the Marion County Courthouse, including women and children,” the report states.
After they got gas for the vehicle, the roommate said all three went back to their apartment. A short time later, the man said, Head became aware of the broken pipe and started an argument. And during the altercation, Head armed himself with his black-and-wood assault-style rifle and allegedly aimed it at the man “in a threatening manner while yelling about people breaking his things,” the report says.
The man told the deputy that he was “in fear for his life” and as soon as Head left their residence, he called the sheriff’s office for help. As the two were talking, the deputy saw Head drive by in his white Dodge Challenger. So he went to the residence a few minutes later, took Head into custody without incidence and read him his rights, the report says.
Head told the deputy that he and the roommate did get into an argument over the broken pipe and the firearm “did come out.” But he said the argument had been over for about 20 minutes and that he only had the rifle out because he was “cleaning it.” Head also admitted to talking about harming women and children at the courthouse if the hearing didn’t go well, but said he was “just joking and had no intention of carrying it out,” the report says.
The deputy noted that the roommate was “obviously scared” of Head and advised him multiple times that he’s concerned that he is “unstable and capable of a mass shooting,” the report says.
Head, who also was arrested Dec. 9 after pointing the same assault-style rifle at a man outside an Ocala Waffle House, was transported to the Marion County Jail and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. He was being held on no bond and is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom on Jan. 22 at 9 a.m.