Gainesville Police arrested a man accused of threatening to use a beverage can filled with gasoline to burn his girlfriend’s house down.
Police charged Jerome Cobb, 63, of 6006 NE 39th Blvd., on Sunday with aggravated assault and threatening to discharge a destructive device, according to a GPD arrest report.
Cobb and his girlfriend, Sharon Yvonne Dexter, 49, have been dating for about three months. At about 8 p.m. Sunday, Cobb became upset with Dexter over her drug use and threatened to burn her house down.
Cobb grabbed a gas can and walked out of Dexter’s apartment at Southern Pines Apartments, 4125 SW 17th Place, to a gas station nearby.
When Cobb returned, he sat outside the house and poured gasoline into a 16-ounce AriZona tea can. Dexter got scared and called police.
GPD arrived to find Cobb outside the complex with the 16-ounce can filled with gasoline, according to the report.
Police arrested Cobb at 9:21 p.m. Sunday and booked him into Alachua County Jail later that night.
On Monday night, Cobb remained in jail with bond set at $101,000.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
