GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the early hours yesterday, 21-year-old Jovani Luis Lopez found himself under arrest following an alleged incident involving a gun in the parking lot of the Taco Bell situated on SW 13th Street.
Around 12:30 a.m. on August 22, a police officer from the Gainesville Police Department arrived at the Taco Bell at 1515 SW 13th Street. According to the victim’s account, Lopez allegedly pulled out a pistol and issued threats to shoot her.
The victim recounted that while she was inside the Taco Bell, she observed Lopez entering with a woman. Recognizing the woman from an ongoing dispute over another man, the victim decided to head back to her car, retrieve her phone, and Facetime her sister to share that the woman was present at the Taco Bell location.
Upon re-entering the Taco Bell, the victim noticed Lopez and the woman were no longer there but encountered them once more as she exited the establishment. She claimed Lopez threatened that should she approach the woman, he would “pop” her, simulating reaching for a weapon in his waistband.
The victim explained that she moved toward her car while Lopez and his companion headed toward his vehicle. She recalled Lopez shouting at her to approach his car. When she refused, Lopez allegedly drove toward her, lowered his window, and revealed a gun pointed with a green laser at her torso before speeding off. Terrified, the victim believed her life was in imminent danger.
Based on a photo of Lopez’s car and tag, officers conducted a felony stop on Lopez’s car at the intersection of NW 34th Street and NW 8th Avenue. The officers reported finding a handgun in the trunk with a green laser.
The woman who was with Lopez reportedly told an officer that she and Lopez were doing a DoorDash delivery, and she said the victim started taking video of them at Taco Bell. She said they interacted with the victim again outside Taco Bell after they left, and the victim said she would slap the woman if she saw her, and then the victim said she would fight her in the future. She said Lopez and the victim argued, and then they all walked toward their vehicles. She said Lopez drove to where the victim was standing and started yelling at her while waving a handgun, and then the victim saw the handgun and told Lopez he was going to jail. She said they drove away from the Taco Bell, and a short distance away, Lopez stopped at a red light, got out of his vehicle, and told her he had to put something in the trunk.
Post Miranda, Lopez reportedly said the victim had threatened to fight the woman, so he told her she was not going to touch the woman and that she should go get her boyfriend. They continued arguing as they walked to their vehicles, and he said he drove to the victim’s vehicle and told her he’d better not see her or her boyfriend in the city. He denied brandishing a gun or threatening the victim with a gun; he admitted to owning a firearm with a laser but said it was in the trunk the whole time. When an officer asked him how the victim knew he had a gun with a green laser, he said it was from social media.
Lopez has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has one previous local arrest, a 2024 case in which adjudication of guilt was withheld after he pled nolo contendere to disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence. Judge Adam Lee 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.