HSPD Chief says arrest may have prevented Memorial Weekend violence at Ginnie Springs
Staff report
HIGH SPRINGS, Fla. – High Springs Police Chief J. Antoine Sheppard believes the arrest of Adam Webb on May 25 may have prevented violence at Ginnie Springs over Memorial Weekend.
At about 2:26 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, Adam Joseph Webb, 22, was driving through High Springs when he was pulled over by a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper for not wearing a seatbelt. A High Springs Police Department (HSPD) officer also responded to the scene and noted that Webb and his passenger, Ja’khail Naveco Brown, 24, were moving items around in the vehicle. Both the trooper and the officer noted that there was an odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, and the officer reported seeing marijuana residue in the vehicle.
When the trooper went to the passenger side of the vehicle, Brown reportedly said he had a small amount of marijuana, weighing about 2.9 grams. He also said he had a 9mm pistol in his bag, which was in the center of the vehicle’s bench front seat, accessible to both Webb and Brown.
Both men were asked to step out of the vehicle, and a search of the vehicle reportedly produced a backpack, within reach of both men, containing a loaded AR pistol.
Post Miranda, both men denied ownership or knowledge of the AR pistol.
As a convicted felon, Webb was charged with four counts of possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon (one for each firearm and magazine). Brown was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession.
Webb has one felony conviction (non-violent) and six misdemeanor convictions (non-violent); he is on pre-trial release for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and is facing a sworn complaint for theft and property damage. Judge Luis Bustamante set bail at $10,000 for one of the firearm possession charges and ordered Webb released on his own recognizance on the other three charges; Webb posted bail and was released on Monday, May 26.
Brown was released on $500 bail.
Chief Sheppard’s letter about the arrest
In a letter released on May 30, HSPD Chief J. Antoine Sheppard praised the “proactive policing operation” conducted by HSPD, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the Alachua Police Department, and the Florida Highway Patrol over Memorial Day weekend and reported “a noticeable reduction in traffic volume, which we attribute to the capacity restrictions implemented by Ginnie Springs and the coordinated efforts of a safety committee led by the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office.”
Sheppard said Webb’s arrest was the “most significant incident over the weekend” because Webb was “reportedly en route to Ginnie Springs.” Sheppard described the 2024 incident that resulted in the firearm possession charge after two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon were dropped: “[Webb] allegedly chased a woman from Alachua to High Springs, fired a gun into the air during a confrontation with her father, and fled the scene… We firmly believe that had Webb made it to the Springs this year with a firearm, the outcome could have mirrored the tragic violence we witnessed last Memorial Weekend, when multiple people were shot over the course of two days and innocent lives were lost.”
I may have won the lottery too, crazy the things people “might have done”
What he done was get caught having multiple firearms while being a convicted felon.
Must suck to be a felon and stupid.
sure, but that doesn’t mean they stopped some hypothetical shooting, a bunch of people probably have guns at the springs, my guess is not all of them are following the law. This is just fear mongering from the cops acting like they saved the springs when all they did was pull someone over for not wearing a seat belt. Good for that I guess, at least they’re doing something.
Wow! This judge should be fired! A $10,000 bond for a previously convicted felon who is in possession of a firearm?! This should outrage all tax paying law abiding citizens! Thank god law enforcement does their job correctly, now only of these liberal judges could do theirs!
$10,000 bail for someone already out on bail for the same felon in possession charge? I hope this liberal judge or someone he knows is never hurt or killed by someone treated like this by a different “slap on the wrist” judge.
He’s from Chiefland and was appointed by DeSantis in 2023. What an absolute horrible judge! Not sure why he was selected…probably just one more cog in the divide and conquer technique
So 10000$ bail
1000$ to get out
While he was on release for a fire arm. Gets caught with another 😂
Make this make sense.
He will recommit before being sentenced to 36months In DOC
With the prior record Webb had, why did this judge let him out of jail??
Did you not see the part where it says charges were dropped!!
Drugs AND weapons, I thought there was a mandatory sentence when those 2 are in combination. He only has to pay 10% in cash, that’s a walk in the park for him. If he does commit a mass shooting in the future, the judge should be held accountable too, and locked up as well! These are lives the judge is supposed to be protecting, not just doing a job!
I still say Law Enforcement should release these low bail violent offenders in the neighborhoods, in front of the homes, of the judges who slapped them on their wrist. Why release them from the county jail — so long as they are released, release them where it will have the most impact… Imagine the county jail bus regularly showing up on the street where the judge lives, letting the city’s riff raff out for all the neighborhood to see. Pretty sure the judge’s neighbors would let the judge know how they felt…
Good grief, some of these comments are outrageous. Proactive policing policies do that. They serve the greater good of all of us.
They are looking for a reason to pull over and check suspicious vehicles to prevent a bigger, more dangerous situation from happening. What planet did some of you drop in from?
A felon on bond in a car with an unlawful handgun and ammo and drugs going to a Memorial Day big-time event at Ginnie Springs! One wrong word or look at these individuals could produce a mass shooting and death situation.
All the ingredients were there. Do you think he was banding out Let’s Be Happy beads? What if he became agitated at one of our stores in High Springs and came back ready to kill anyone present? It does happen way too often!
Wake up. The entire area should thank this Officer and many others for probably saving many in this community. If something did happen, many of you negative posters would be screaming, “Where’s a COP when you need one?”
Thanks, Chief Sheppard. Now, was that so dam hard to do?