An Ocala man is being held without bond in the Marion County Jail on multiple drug and weapons charges after he reportedly pointed a gun into a crowd of people arguing over how much money they’d be getting from a recently deceased relative.
Donald Lorenzo Roberts, 31, of 1228 SW Fort King St., was charged with grand theft of a firearm, possession of a weapon or firearm by a convicted firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, violation of an injunction for domestic violence by possession of a firearm or ammunition, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession of drug paraphernalia, and use or display of a firearm during a felony.
At around 11 p.m. Monday, a Marion County sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of a disturbance at 56 Hemlock Circle, where he observed a large group gathered in the front yard and yelling at one another. They were in a dispute over what they would be receiving from a recently deceased family member, according to the sheriff’s office report.
After the deputy quelled the disturbance and started to leave the scene, he was approached by someone frantically screaming that someone had just pulled out a gun and threatened them with it. The victim described the suspect as a black man with a white sleeveless undershirt, the report said.
The deputy ran to the front yard of the residence and observed a man who matched that description walking away from the scene to a pickup truck in the middle of the road. The truck was not there when the deputy originally arrived, according to the report.
The deputy approached the man, who would not identify himself, and tried to conduct a pat search for weapons. The man was extremely uncooperative and was pressing the right side of his body against the vehicle to prevent the deputy from searching his right-side pockets, the report said.
The deputy went back to the victim to get a clear story about what happened. She said the man the deputy was trying to identify was the man who pointed the gun at her. The deputy returned to detain the man and saw he was leaving in the pickup truck. Deputies followed the vehicle conducted a traffic stop down the road from the incident location, according to the report.
The passenger, later identified as Roberts, was removed from the vehicle and searched for weapons. During the pat-down, the deputy identified what felt like drug paraphernalia. Asked if he had a grinder in his pocket, Roberts said he did, the report said.
A K-9 unit conducted an open-air sniff and detected the odor of narcotics in the vehicle. During a search of the vehicle, the deputy found a loaded handgun in the center console. A check of the firearm’s serial indicated it had been reported stolen in Marion County, according to the report.
The victim provided a written statement that described the firearm used in the incident, which matched the one found in the vehicle. A computer search revealed Roberts is a convicted Florida felon and has an active permanent domestic violence injunction against him, the report said.
Upon intake at the jail, detention staff found a small plastic bag with a white crystal substance in Roberts’ sock. The substance tested positive for MDMA, according to the report.
Roberts will appear in Marion Count Court on Nov. 10.