Man accused of pointing rifle at shoppers, employees inside Orlando supermarket
ORLANDO, Fla. —
A 44-year-old man is in the Orange County Jail after police say he walked into an Orlando supermarket armed with a rifle, pointed it at multiple people, and tried to take a watch from a jewelry stand.
Surveillance video shared with WESH 2 shows the man walking through the Sedano’s Supermarket on Curry Ford Road on Thursday afternoon.
“At first, I thought he was a normal security guard,” said Andrea Ramirez, who was working inside the store.
According to an arrest affidavit, the suspect, identified as Juby Vera, pointed the rifle at a store supervisor before walking to the jewelry section inside the supermarket, where police say he pointed the gun at several employees.
“I saw [the employee] bend down and the lady next to her left. She ran away,” Ramirez said.
According to Orlando police, Vera told officers that “while at the jewelry store, he observed a watch he believed to be his from his residence and demanded that the clerk give him the watch.”
“Since they didn’t attend to him, he walked out the door,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said several people called 911 before Orlando police officers arrived and took Vera into custody on a sidewalk outside the store. Video shows one officer pointing his gun at Vera while another handcuffed him.
“At first, I kind of felt like the adrenaline didn’t let me think about the danger,” Ramirez said.
According to the arrest affidavit, Vera repeatedly told officers the gun wasn’t real, though the report notes all of the victims perceived the rifle as real. Vera also told police he purchased the rifle at a pawnshop shortly before going to the store and that he did not recall pointing the gun at anyone.
Ramirez disputes Vera’s claim that the gun was fake.
“He was acting as if he was cocking [the gun],” she said. “The cop did confirm to me that the gun was real and that it had two bullets and that it was long-range.”
Vera was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count of attempted robbery with a firearm.
He has retained a private attorney and remains in jail on a $10,000 bond.