Pair arrested for throwing objects through neighbor’s window

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jana Smith Ronan, 69, and Christopher W. Smith, 71, were arrested yesterday after allegedly throwing a chair and a grill lid through a neighbor’s window.

At about 12:30 p.m. on August 2, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to the 700 block of NW 29th Place, where the victims said Ronan, who lives across the street from them, had come to their door asking for help with an unknown issue. The male victim reportedly told her he could not help because of a recent knee injury and told her to leave his property because of previous issues with her.

Ronan reportedly left but came back a short time later with Smith, and a chair from the victims’ front porch hit their front window, breaking the glass. The male victim looked out the front window and reportedly saw Smith throw the chair at the window again, and then Ronan allegedly picked up a metal grill lid and threw it at the front window, breaking more glass. One of the suspects allegedly hit the front door window with the grill lid, but that window did not break. Ronan also allegedly hit the male victim’s truck window with the grill lid.

The arresting officer reported that if the chair or grill lid had gone through the window into the front room of the residence, the male victim could have been seriously injured by the objects or by glass.

The male victim reportedly told both Ronan and Smith to leave, and they eventually walked away before officers arrived. However, Ronan reportedly returned to her home while officers were at the scene and said that the male victim had punched her twice in the face, but she had no visible injury.

Post Miranda, Ronan reportedly declined to answer any questions.

Smith was reportedly located at Ronan’s home and was identified by photographs taken by the female victim during the incident.

Post Miranda, Smith reportedly admitted hitting the victims’ front window with a chair and throwing a chair at the window. He said that Ronan had come back to her home after her initial contact with the victims and had said the male victim had punched her twice in the face. He said that when he went back to the victims’ home with Ronan and they did not answer the door, he used the chair to damage the window.

Ronan was previously arrested in 2022 for child neglect and was sentenced to three years of drug offender probation with adjudication of guilt withheld after she entered a plea of nolo contendere to one count of child neglect. A drug screening in July 2023 was positive for alcohol, and after she entered a plea admitting to violation of probation, Judge James Colaw sentenced her to 67 days in jail with credit for 67 days served, ordered her to complete inpatient treatment at Bridge House, and extended her probation by a year.

Ronan was also charged in May 2024 with leaving the scene of an accident with damage to property; she missed a hearing, and her attorney explained to the court that she has a serious alcohol addiction and would be entering an inpatient treatment program with a tentative completion date in early July.

Ronan has been charged with throwing a deadly missile into a dwelling, and Judge Tatum Davis set bail on the new charge at $15,000.

Smith was reportedly identified with his Kansas driver’s license, and his listed address is in Leawood, Kansas. He has no local criminal history. He has been charged with two counts of throwing a deadly missile into a dwelling, and Judge Davis set bail at $30,000.

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.