A homeless man, reportedly from Ohio, made his way onto the roof of the Wendy’s Restaurant in the Riverside Shopping Center yesterday evening; and, after an unsuccessful attempt by employees to coax him down, a Crisis Intervention Team finally was able to convince him to come down on his own.
For nearly five-hours, 31-year-old Timothy John Weber held officers at bay as he paced back and forth atop Wendy’s, about fifteen-feet in the air. Weber, who had been fully clothed, began stripping off his clothes and was wearing only his undershorts by the time Historic City News reader, Evelyn Hammock, arrived on the scene.
“Deputies are on scene with a despondent individual at US-1 and SR-312,” was the only information coming out of the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office; posted to their twitter feed. “There is no threat to public safety, and we are working to reach out to this individual and get him assistance.”
On the ground, we learned more. Weber was apparently distraught over an unpleasant domestic conflict he was having. At one point he was walking and standing literally one the roof’s edge. An attempt was made to shoot Weber with a less-lethal beanbag round, but he did not surrender.
As many as three deputy sheriffs were visible on the roof with Weber during the event. Altogether six patrol cars were parked at the scene from the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office. One ladder truck and other vehicles were on the scene from Fire-Rescue. City police and emergency management were also on the scene. Weber appeared to be taunting the officers, he kicked away two extension ladders that had been placed on the north and west side of the building. Weber could be heard to threaten police with taking his own life. Many of his hours of ranting was inaudible, he was slurring his speech and making outrageous claims about cloning people in St Augustine as part of some sort of government experiment.
A female was escorted to the building by police. Although she was not allowed to climb to the roof, she was able to communicate with Weber from the ground. That did not seem to help. At one point, Weber was talking on a cell phone. He became angry and slung the phone to the ground.
Before midnight, Weber had become more and more verbal, and his remarks toward emergency personnel and bystanders became more abusive and profane. Then finally, just a few minutes after midnight, Weber was seen descending one of the ladders. When he reached the bottom stair, awaiting deputies gave him room so that he could walk himself into the patrol car without being pushed.
Weber was booked at the St Johns County Detention Facility at about 2:05 a.m. He made his first appearance hearing this morning and the judge allowed bail in the amounts of $2500.00 for his first charge of second-degree felony assault and an additional $2500.00 for his second charge of third-degree felony criminal mischief with property damage. He remains in custody in lieu of $5,000 total bond.
Photos © 2018 Evelyn Hammock for Historic City News
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