Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Luis Maikol Sanchez Fernandez, 20, was arrested yesterday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly threatening to shoot a roommate.

At about 7:24 p.m. on Thursday, a Gainesville Police Department Officer responded to an apartment at Pavilion on 62nd, where the victim said he had been sitting in his bedroom with the door open when Sanchez Fernandez confronted him. He said he tried to avoid the confrontation by moving into the living room, but Sanchez Fernandez pulled out a black handgun and pointed it at him. The victim said Sanchez Fernandez said, “Die die die” while pointing the gun at him, and he was forced to put his hands up. The victim said he quickly banged on another roommate’s door, and that roommate opened his door and reportedly saw Sanchez Fernandez trying to conceal the gun before walking into another room.

The officer reported that while he was detaining Sanchez Fernandez, he spontaneously said he owned a “toy handgun” that was in his room. An officer reportedly found a “BB gun style pistol” in Sanchez Fernandez’s room.

The arresting officer noted that the victim did not know the pistol was a BB gun and believed his life was in danger.

Post Miranda, Sanchez Fernandez reportedly denied using a handgun, real or fake, during the incident. When asked why his roommates said they saw him with a gun, he reportedly said he did not know because neither had ever seen him with a gun. He later said they might have previously seen him with a toy gun.

Sanchez Fernandez is currently in a pre-trial diversion agreement that requires him to avoid breaking the law through October 2024. In that case, he was charged with taking an electric scooter worth over $500 from Target, where he worked at the time. He allegedly assembled the scooter in an employee area and left the store with it. He also has a federal conviction from 2022. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $40,000 and ordered him to find an alternate residence.

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.