Mexican national arrested for pointing pellet gun at neighbors

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Derwis Elesvan Roblero Rivera, 34, was arrested yesterday after allegedly pointing a pellet gun at his neighbors.

At about 5:24 p.m. on July 14, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to The Hammocks (3747 SW 20th Avenue), where the two victims said they live next door to Roblero Rivera and know him from Mexico. The victims said that when they got home from work on July 14 and started walking up the stairs to their apartment, Roblero Rivera came out of his apartment, holding a long gun. They said he pointed the weapon at them, and they immediately turned and ran for their lives.

The victims told an officer they believed Roblero Rivera was going to shoot them because he racked the weapon and pointed it at them. They said the weapon looked like a long gun and was brown.

Officers determined that Roblero Rivera was inside his apartment and detained him; post Miranda, he reportedly said he did not point his pellet gun at the victims, but he confronted them about an incident the previous day. He said somebody tried to open his front door during that incident, and he believed one of the victims may have been involved. He also said his roommate had pointed the pellet gun at the victims.

Roblero Rivera’s roommate, who was reportedly involved in the incident the day before, said Roblero Rivera had walked out of their apartment and pointed the pellet gun at both victims, causing them to run. He reportedly said Roblero Rivera did this because of the incident the day before. He also said the pellet gun was inside Roblero Rivera’s apartment, and a long, brown-colored pellet gun was reportedly found near the air conditioning units.

Another person from the victims’ apartment reportedly sent one of the victims a video that showed Roblero Rivera wearing the same clothing he was wearing when detained; he was racking the pellet gun and yelling at the victims, saying in Spanish that they were “running away scared.”

Roblero Rivera reportedly said he is not a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident; the officer reported that he had a Florida ID number with no photo on the ID and was identified using the jail’s database.

Roblero Rivera has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has one misdemeanor conviction for driving without a valid license in 2013 in Alachua County; a 2010 charge of driving without a license and a 2018 charge for domestic assault were both dropped.

According to court documents, Roblero Rivera has worked for a local landscaping company for 15 years and has an ICE detainer.

Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

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.