Jonesville man arrested for holding a gun while aggressively yelling at IQ Fiber crew on his property
Staff report
Update on February 20, 2026: Worthmann’s attorney sent the following statement for publication:
“The employees of IQFiber had a limited easement they were allowed to work in. IQFiber, did not, however, have carte blanche permission to damage Mr. Worthmann’s property with their large equipment. After discovering IQFiber employees working where they were not authorized to be, Mr. Worthmann ordered them to leave his property. Refusing to do so, the work crew began trespassing on Mr. Worthmann’s residence. Florida Stand Your Ground laws have long allowed homeowners to eject trespassers from their property. During the ejectment, Mr. Worthmann never pointed a firearm at anyone nor threatened anyone. His actions were squarely within the rights accorded to homeowners to protect their property. By law, Mr. Worthmann’s actions were legally justified and he had committed no crime. Therefore, he had legal immunity under the law and the charges were dismissed.”
Update on February 11, 2026: The charges in this case have been dropped. According to the State Attorney’s Office, “The defendant had a defense of property argument.”
Updated on September 18 to add comment from Luis Diaz
Updated on September 19 with bail information
Updated on October 1 with bail information
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Drew Thomas Worthmann, 43, was arrested yesterday for allegedly holding a gun while “aggressively yelling” at an IQ Fiber crew on his property.
At about 11:50 a.m. on September 16, Worthmann reportedly returned to his home to find a crew from IQ Fiber installing fiber-optic cable on his property; according to the arrest report, the company was hired by the Town of Tioga Director of Development to install fiber-optic cable in the neighborhood. However, Director of Development Luis Diaz told Alachua Chronicle that the arrest report is incorrect: “IQ Fiber has been installing internet fiber all over Alachua County as a utility company, and they have access to all Utility Easements and Right-of-Ways in Alachua County. They did proactively consult with us prior to coming as to how to minimize the impact of their work in our community.”
Worthmann reportedly became hostile with the two victims and the rest of the crew before entering his home, and a short time later, he allegedly walked outside, armed with a handgun, and yelled at the victims to get off his property. The IQ Fiber crew reportedly retreated from his property and called law enforcement.
Witnesses reportedly corroborated the victims’ story.
Post Miranda, Worthmann reportedly said he did not want to speak without a lawyer present.
Worthmann has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has no criminal history. Judge David Kreider initially ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial, but on September 19, Worthmann’s defense attorney filed a motion asking a judge to set bond and conditions of pre-trial release and stated that the prosecutor had agreed with the conditions.
Worthmann’s attorney, Caleb Kenyon, wrote that the defense and prosecution had agreed to set bond at $10,000 per count for a total bond of $20,000; Worthmann will be prohibited from possessing weapons or firearms and must have no contact with the victims or any other IQ Fiber employees. However, he may be on his property when IQ Fiber is working in the area as long as he does not “interact directly or indirectly” with any IQ Fiber employees or agents.
On September 24, Judge Robert Groeb set bail at $20,000 with the conditions described above, and Worthmann was released on that date.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
No bail, but if you’re a homeless guy on the east side of town and physically assault someone, you’ll be ROR same day and back in your cardboard box to sleep that same night. What a wonderful county we live in.
Assault with a deadly weapon is more serious than simple assault. If you don’t know what you may and may not do with a gun, you shouldn’t own one.
The Republican led state legislature created this last legislative session. The judge is required by law to hold them on certain offenses (regardless of previous criminal history) until a pre-trial detention hearing. It’s astounding how much you all don’t know but always have something to say.
————–
The Florida statute governing pretrial detention is Florida Statute § 907.041, which outlines the procedures for determining whether a defendant should be detailed before trial to protect the community or ensure their presence at court. The statute mandates a court hearing to decide on detention, requiring the state attorney to file a motion for detention if certain criteria are met. The court must order detention if it finds there is a substantial probability that the defendant committed the crime and that no conditions of release are sufficient to protect the community or guarantee their court appearance
1. No, they did not create this in the last session. The 8th Circuit has been using pre-trial detention a lot since February 2024 because of a court ruling.
2. Aggravated assault is not one of the offenses that requires the State Attorney to request pre-trial detention.
https://alachuachronicle.com/how-has-the-dominguez-case-affected-pre-trial-release-conditions-in-the-8th-judicial-circuit/ (see the details on the law at the end of the article)
Good job. No more firearms for you.
Isn’t he the owner of Worthmann Roofing? I know who I won’t be using.
Ugh. We just used them to replace our roof a few months ago. Never again.
He sold Worthmann Roofing over a year and a half ago and has NOTHING to do with the day to day. Just unfortunate his name is the name of the company
He’s slow and will realize how dumb that was while in jail — a good thing, as Martha would say.💩🤡
One of the few who prefer cable?
No Worthmann roofs for me
He has ZERO ownership in Worthmann Roofing. He sold it almost 2 years and has nothing to do with it at all. You can google if you think it is fake.
It’s better to read about how Stand Your Ground laws work than to assume. It’s also probably a good idea to read the rules of your HOA, if you’re going to agree to them by living in one. Think before you act.
He has ZERO ownership in Worthmann Roofing. He sold it almost 2 years and has nothing to do with it at all. You can google if you think it is fake.
There are some unanswered questions here. Were on his property or on the right of way? If they were working on the right of way, no foul, except for the home owner. If they were actually on his property why hadn’t they asked and received permission first? Otherwise they were trespassing. Did they refuse to leave?
I already noted that Town of Tioga is managed by an HOA. Luis Diaz, the Director of Development for Town of Tioga is also the VP of the HOA. If Worthmann didn’t know what he was getting into when buying a property in a community managed by an HOA, that’s on him. Also, the article clearly points out that the workers retreated and called the police. Your questions were answered before you asked them, and you just didn’t read the answers.
When IQ Fiber comes in at the request of an HOA, homeowners are notified (signs throughout the neighborhood, door hangers, emails), and you can’t keep them off your property. Even if you could, the first step is always to ask someone to leave and then call the cops if they refuse.
The Republican led state legislature created this last legislative session. The judge is required by law to hold them on certain offenses (regardless of previous criminal history) until a pre-trial detention hearing. It’s astounding how much you all don’t know but always have something to say.
————–
The Florida statute governing pretrial detention is Florida Statute § 907.041, which outlines the procedures for determining whether a defendant should be detailed before trial to protect the community or ensure their presence at court. The statute mandates a court hearing to decide on detention, requiring the state attorney to file a motion for detention if certain criteria are met. The court must order detention if it finds there is a substantial probability that the defendant committed the crime and that no conditions of release are sufficient to protect the community or guarantee their court appearance
If the workers were beyond the easement boundaries, they may be in the wrong. I have experienced significant damage to my real property and landscaping due to the actions of cable companies and GRU.
Both groups seem to think they rule by divine right.
I am pretty sure they don’t. Neither Harvey and his Wallbangers nor
Big Bearded Ed resembles Jesus to me.
Malicious vandalism is a serious charge.
That is the owner of Worthmann Roofing
Wrong. He has ZERO ownership in Worthmann Roofing. He sold it almost 2 years and has nothing to do with it at all. You can google it and see for yourself
He has a history ….
Being a past roofer I can understand his actions. Most of you people posting negative comments have never worked on a roof. The heat and the slopes of the roofs get to you after awhile. Saying that there is no reason to pull a gun on a cable company worker. This should be settled with some community service and some gun education and an apology to the cable workers. Lets move on and make America Great Again.
I’ve been a roofer’s helper, and a painter on roofs. I’ve never pulled a gun on anyone after a long day in the heat and on sketchy slopes. Why not? Because heat and light and crazy angles do not diminish my capacity for basic common sense, especially not when I’m off the job before noon. Try a different excuse.
He owns Happy Homes. He sold Worthmann Roofing
On your recent article “ Jonesville man arrested for holding a gun while aggressively yelling at IQ Fiber crew on his property” it was incorrectly posted the IQ Fiber came to Town of Tioga at our or the Director of Development, which is my self, request.
That statement is false.
IQ Fiber has been installing internet fiber all over Alachua County as a utility company and they have access to all Utility Easements and Right-of-Ways through a permitting process with Alachua County’s Public Works.
They did proactively consult with us prior to coming as to how to minimize their impact of their work in our community.
However, IQ Fiber did not come at anyone’s request from Town of Tioga’s Community staff, HOA Directors, or Development Company.
Luis Diaz – Town of Tioga Director of Development
And the HOA will be issuing fines the next day requiring the homeowner to pay a contractor to clean up after the IQ Fiber guys have left.
Hope he has the equity to get out of that “castle” of his…these attorneys are licking their chops to get this case. Trust me.
For anyone out there reading this, he does NOT own Worthmann Roofing. He sold the company in 2023. You can google it. Sucks his name is still a part of it but he has ZERO ownershi;p