Staff report
NEWBERRY, Fla. – Roman Romel Sheppard, 17, has been charged as an adult for burglarizing multiple vehicles in the Belmont neighborhood with his 16-year-old brother in the early morning hours of December 19.
At about 3:30 a.m. on December 19, a resident of the Belmont neighborhood reported that he had surveillance video showing two black males pulling door handles on multiple vehicles, including his vehicle.
A second resident reported that he had surveillance video of two people trying to break into his vehicle at about 3:35 a.m. The video reportedly shows the two subjects pulling on the door handles of that resident’s vehicle, then walking to the next door neighbor’s house and pulling on the door handles of the neighbor’s vehicle.
An Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy who was canvassing the neighborhood in response to the calls saw someone sitting inside a car, dressed all in black, with a black mask covering his face. When the deputy got out of his car, the suspect, later identified as Roman Sheppard, fled on foot and was detained after a brief foot pursuit. The deputy reportedly found an empty handgun holster in Sheppard’s waistband and found a Glock .40 handgun along Sheppard’s flight path.