Staff report

NEWBERRY, Fla. – Justin Eugene Ball, 39, was arrested yesterday after allegedly approaching a stopped pickup truck during a road rage incident and breaking a window with a wrench after threatening to kill the driver.

At about 10:50 a.m. on May 22, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the intersection of West Newberry Road and NW 122nd Street, where the victim said he was driving north on 122nd Street when a gold SUV started to “ride his bumper.” He said this continued for a few miles, and he turned his hazard lights on in an attempt to get the SUV to back off. He said the SUV continued riding his bumper, so he “brake-checked” him twice.

When the victim stopped at the intersection of NW 122nd Street and West Newberry Road, Ball allegedly got out of the SUV, holding a large ratchet wrench. The victim said Ball approached the driver’s side of his truck and verbally threatened to kill him; the victim said he told Ball to get back in his vehicle and Ball started walking back but turned and hit the truck with the wrench, shattering the rear glass on the driver’s side. The victim said he was in fear for his life.

The victim said the man got back in the SUV and sped off around his truck, heading westbound on Newberry Road.

The deputy reported that the victim’s truck had a four-inch hole in the back glass on the driver’s side, and the back pillar of the cab had a dent and chipped paint. The damage was estimated at over $1,000.

A witness who was walking in the area told the deputy she heard an argument and saw the driver of a gold SUV shouting at the driver of a pickup truck. She said the man walked to the back of the truck and swung a “large cylinder object” at the truck before going back to the SUV and driving away.

The deputy found the tag number of the SUV and learned that Bell was driving the SUV and working on a landscaping job in the Dylan’s Grove subdivision. The deputy reported that Bell’s driver’s license photo matched the description given by the victim.

Bell and the SUV were reportedly located in the Dylan’s Grove subdivision, and a large ratchet wrench was reportedly sitting on the passenger seat of the SUV.

Post Miranda, Bell reportedly said he was driving between job sites when the victim slammed his brakes for no apparent reason; he said he tried to go around him, but the victim cut him off. He said this continued until they reached the intersection at Newberry Road, where he got out of the SUV to ask the victim “what his problem was.” He said he walked back to his vehicle, then returned to the victim’s truck and swung his left arm around, hitting and breaking the back glass.

When the deputy said a witness saw him holding an object and swinging it at the glass, Bell reportedly recanted his previous statement and said he was only holding the ratchet, and when he swung it, “it must have hit the truck.” When the deputy asked why he did not stop and call 911 during the driving incident, Bell said he couldn’t afford to be late to work. Bell reportedly said he was in the wrong.

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced a black cylinder containing sublingual Buprenorphine Hydrochloride; Bell reportedly said he had a prescription for it at home and that he didn’t carry it in the proper container because he didn’t want to carry all of it.

On the way to the jail, Bell reportedly said, “I bet he’ll think about brake-checking and running someone off the road again… If I have to go to jail to teach him a lesson, then so be it.”

Bell has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, property damage over $1,000, and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He has a conviction for assault in another state from 2004 but no criminal charges in his 13 years in Alachua County. Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial.

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.