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A person was arrested in Ocala, Florida, over the weekend after neighbors mentioned he repeatedly aimed sprinklers at college students with with disabilities.
Antonio Roman, 61, was charged with 4 counts of stalking, two counts of battery, and two counts of battery of a disabled individual, in response to the Marion County Sheriff’s Workplace. Roman allegedly used his residence’s surveillance digital camera to activate his sprinklers to deliberately spray his neighbors as they waited for a college bus.
A household with two college students who mentioned they had been focused contacted the sheriff’s workplace in April about Roman. The daddy knowledgeable Corporal Kyle Ferguson, who investigated the matter, that Roman sprayed the household twice a day when two of the victims had been loaded and unloaded from the bus.
One of many victims is a 17-year-old who has been identified with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic dysfunction, and is cognitively impaired, in response to an arrest warrant obtained by NBC Information. The opposite is a 22-year-old with autism and Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, additionally a genetic dysfunction, the warrant mentioned.
The warrant notes that the daddy additionally has a leg amputation.
The household advised police that Roman tried to have the bus cease moved by each the college district and a householders affiliation and commenced retaliating when these efforts failed, the warrant mentioned.
Roman is accused of spraying the scholars for greater than a yr. The household advised authorities that they imagine their college students have been sprayed 400 occasions, in response to the warrant. Officers say a number of the incidents had been recorded by the household.
The dad and mom mentioned that Roman’s actions “are inflicting them substantial emotional misery and inflicting concern for his or her security and the protection of their youngsters,” in response to the warrant.
“Whereas conducting additional analysis of this case, it was found the suspect has known as this company an estimated 75 occasions since 06/24/2023 with nearly all of complaints being towards the victims of this case,” the warrant mentioned.
Ferguson confirmed the sprinkler system was aimed straight on the bus cease, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned. Ferguson noticed that sprinklers “activated when the bus arrived and deactivated as quickly because it left the realm.”
NBC Information obtained video of one of many incidents noticed by the Marion County Sheriff’s Workplace. It reveals that the sprinklers are off till a college bus pulls in entrance of the properties.
The household, together with one individual in a wheelchair, is seen having to stroll by means of the spray of water. As soon as the bus pulls away, the sprinklers cease, in response to the video.
“Contact was made with Roman through phone, who suggested that he was upset concerning the location of the bus cease and didn’t like that it utilized a part of his driveway for the wheelchair ramp one of many victims wanted,” the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
In accordance with the sheriff’s workplace, Roman mentioned he used his surveillance system to trace the bus and manually activate the sprinklers.
Roman was at a residence out-of-state in June when an arrest warrant was issued, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned. When he returned to Marion County on Sunday, he contacted the sheriff’s workplace to show himself in.
Courtroom information weren’t instantly accessible for Roman’s case, and it is unclear if he has retained an legal professional. Inmate information present he was launched from jail Tuesday.
A person who answered a cellphone quantity listed for Roman in public information hung up on an NBC Information reporter who reached out for touch upon Tuesday.
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