Gainesville Man Arrested on Warrant for Battery, Stalking, False Imprisonment and Assault
Police arrested Ryan Walker Sheppard, 30, Wednesday on a warrant for three felonies, false imprisonment, aggravated stalking, and aggravated assault, in addition to a misdemeanor count of battery.
According to the police report, the victim and Sheppard were at a downtown Gainesville bar on Tuesday evening.
The victim told police that Sheppard had been drinking and became irate. She tried to leave, and Sheppard wrapped his arms around the victim to prevent her from doing so, prompting bystanders to intervene and separate the two.
The victim was able to leave in an Uber, but soon after Sheppard began sending her threatening texts, reportedly stating he would “break all the windows” in the victim’s home, in addition to a comment about sliding a “knife across someone’s throat.”
Sheppard’s actions caused the victim to pack a suitcase and leave her residence in fear that he’d act on his threats. As she was leaving, Sheppard reportedly arrived and began chasing her with his vehicle, boxing her in on a one-way road. Sheppard reportedly exited his vehicle and began hitting the victim’s car window with a knife.
Sheppard has no bond pending a pretrial detention motion by the State Attorney’s Office.
In 2014, Sheppard was arrested on misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and disorderly conduct, but prosecutors dropped the case.
Gainesville Police Department Officer Lindsey Allen reported that Sheppard and his girlfriend left their dogs with “no sustenance,” and a witness reported they left the dogs in a car for an hour when it was 97 degrees outside.
Allen reported, “[Sheppard] approached me, standing by his vehicle, and was extremely hostile. [Sheppard] was yelling and screaming, causing onlookers to gather. [Sheppard] proceeded to walk in the roadway and all over the sidewalk while yelling. [Sheppard] demanded and ordered me to return his dog, which I had removed from the blistering heat. [Sheppard] began yelling at the witnesses who were attempting to help the dogs. [Sheppard] spontaneously screamed at me that he left the dogs in the vehicle just to go into the store and told me that they were fine. [Sheppard] advised me that the dogs did not need water and stated that he did nothing wrong. Animal control responded and issued [Sheppard] two citations. Animal control determined that the dogs were ok to be released to [Sheppard’s] mother.”
Sheppard has prior convictions in Alachua County for leaving the scene of a crash and resisting an officer without violence.
