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Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Ocala felon accused of asking woman to help dispose of gun

Benjamin Kyle Barber

A homeless man with a criminal record was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly lured a woman into the woods behind an Ocala Circle K store and tried to get her to help him dispose of a gun.

Benjamin Kyle Barber, 30, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of weapon by a convicted felon. Barber reportedly lives in the woods behind the store, located at 3550 N. U.S. Hwy. 441.

The victim told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy she was at the store at around 12:30 a.m. when Barber told her he had something for her and asked her to come over to the wooded area. She said she followed Barber and when they were in the woods, he removed a black handgun from his right pocket and pointed it at her face, according to the sheriff’s office report.

The victim said Barber told her, “Look what I got. Will you help me get rid of it?” She said he then tried to hand it to her. The victim said she was scared Barber was going to shoot her and she ran back to the store. She said a couple minutes later, Barber walked back to the store, where she was standing outside, and told her the gun shoots and that he would drag her back out into the woods to shoot her in the head, the report said.

Security footage from the store showed the victim and Barber walking away from the store and into the wooded area, with the victim running back to the store about 2 minutes later. The video showed Barber returning to the store parking lot about 3 minutes later, according to the report.

The deputy found Barber the next morning at a house next to the incident location.  Barber said an unknown person gave him a black CO2 BB gun to protect himself. He said he is a convicted felon and isn’t supposed to be in possession of any gun. Barber said he was at the store with the victim the previous night while in possession of the gun, the report said.

Barber denied ever pointing the gun or threatening anyone with it. He said he only asked the victim to go with him to the retention area across the street to discard of the gun in the retention pond, where he threw it into the water, according to the report.

The deputy responded to the retention pond northeast of the incident location on the east side of Highway 441 and found the gun next to the guard rail of the retention area. A computer check showed Barber was convicted July 1, 2019 for giving a false name to a pawnbroker and trafficking in stolen property, the report said.

Barber was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he’s being held on $5,000 bond. No court information was available.