Gainesville Police arrested a man after he fired shots at a group and threw a brick at another man’s car last week.
Police arrested Demetrius Eric Filer, 24, Thursday on charges of aggravated assault, criminal mischief and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to a GPD arrest report.
In the early afternoon, Filer got into a fight with Rashad Antonio Jones at a home in the 3500 block of Northeast 12th Street over a confrontation between the wives of both men, said Monica Baisden, Jones’ wife. After a witness broke up the fight, he went into his house and came out with a rifle-style gun.
He then pointed the gun at Jones and Baisden and told them he was going to shoot them.
The couple heard a bang while they were retreating and saw that Filer had thrown a brick at Jones’ car, cracking the window and denting the door.
Filer then fired three shots from his gun, ran toward a car and drove from the scene, according to the report.
A police helicopter spotted the car pulling into Eden Park at Ironwood on Northeast 39th Avenue, wrote GPD Spokesman Officer Ben Tobias in an email. Officers found Filer jumping a fence nearby and arrested him.
Back at the scene, an officer saw bullet casings on the ground, according to the report.
Inside Filer’s home, the officer found a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. A witness also confirmed the rifle-style gun belonged to Filer.
Officers booked Filer into the Alachua County Jail at about 7 p.m., where he remained Sunday night with a $30,000 bond.
The incident came as a shock to Baisden, who said she and her husband were good friends with Filer. She was especially concerned because her and Filer’s young children were outside during the confrontation.
Despite the previous friendship, Baisden said she’s glad Filer is behind bars.
“If you can pull out a gun at us, then that’s where you need to be,” she said.
A version of this story ran on page 3 on 9/16/2013 under the headline "Man shoots and throws brick"
