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Posted on 08/20/2025 12:46:43 AM PDT by Morgana
A Florida man repeatedly used his sprinkler system to hose down special needs children as they got on and off their school bus, police have said.
Antonio Roman, 61, was arrested by deputies with Marion County Sheriff's Office after repeatedly using the sprinkler system on the family next door to him in Ocala.
Officials say he intentionally activated the sprinklers twice daily, when his two victims departed for school and again when they returned.
Deputies said the father of the children had to resort to wearing a swim suit to shield his children, who use wheelchairs, from the repeat behavior.
Footage obtained by WFTV shows the sprinklers activating as two of the children are being wheeled out to the bus.
One of the sprinklers appears to rotate round to soak the child and their father as they are pushed onto the bus.
Police say the neighbors had advised them that such behavior had been ongoing since August 8 of last year.
A detective sat and watched the property and found he was using a surveillance system to activate the sprinklers which were aimed directly at the bus.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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Couldn’t he have just removed the ramp instead? I’d back him up on that.
To each his own, I guess I personally would rather assume room temperature before I grew petty enough to turn the sprinklers on disabled kids because the wheelchair ramp of their school bus made contact with my driveway for a few minutes each day.
The father of the disabled kids should have called the local news station. They could have pressured the county to move the bus stop.
The bus stop can be anywhere on a public street that the city and school chooses. He does not own the street and cannot dictate what goes on there.
So instead of dealing with the school board and school system he went after disabled kids. Sorry he was an ass.
I understand that. He also has the right to petition that it be moved away from his driveway.
He has a right to be cranky he does not have a right to be an ass
Being cranky because you’re old is NO excuse for this disgusting treatment of disabled kids or their parents. And 61 is NOT that old.
The could have handled this in many other ways than retaliating like he did.
Good point.
There is the city right of way from the curb up to a certain point on your property, which IIRC, includes the sidewalk. As long as they are on the right of way, I don’t see that he has a complaint. Post 12 said he’s done this to others he objects to for what he apparently considers infringing on his property.
He would have mysteriously disappeared one dark and stormy night.
I’m totally with you on this- he’s taking it out on the children. Wrong wrong wrong.
I can’t support the method he used. It breaks my heart to think of those kids getting sprinklers turned on them. If it was my kids, he’d be spitting out his chiclets.
So - instead of lodging formal complaints, going to extremes to attack/harass wheelchair-bound, handicapped kids in is the answer?
“Officials say he intentionally activated the sprinklers twice daily, when his two victims departed for school and again when they returned.
Deputies said the father of the children had to resort to wearing a swim suit to shield his children, who use wheelchairs, from the repeat behavior.
Footage obtained by WFTV shows the sprinklers activating as two of the children are being wheeled out to the bus.
One of the sprinklers appears to rotate round to soak the child and their father as they are pushed onto the bus.
Police say the neighbors had advised them that such behavior had been ongoing since August 8 of last year.
A detective sat and watched the property and found he was using a surveillance system to activate the sprinklers which were aimed directly at the bus.”
The guy is an asshole - same goes for his supporters.
How long would it take for the kids to be picked up or dropped off by the school bus? Like, what, a few measly minutes?
Yet this guy deliberately was ‘on it’ during those very times? He couldn’t be inside his house doing something else? He HAD to be oh so noticeable of those very times and that annoyed him?
He’s a sadist who is taking out his meanness on these young children who are just trying to go to school.
As if life for them isn’t hard enough they are children who are disabled for life and will likely NEVER get over the trauma this cruel and rotten person has caused them. They now have embedded in them the very real knowledge and fear of the world because of their vulnerablility. A fear of ones like him who ARE out there and WILL take advantage of their presence on the planet just to inflict pain on someone to satisfy their own inner cruel desire to inflict pain.
There are better words for this guy than the ones used here.
Where I live they pull the bus or van directly in front of the child’s home to pick them up or drop them off.
What? No more late night posting for you!
Morgana, they a43 children and handicapped. - YTAH for siding with a guy who hoses kids because they block his driveway for 5 minites.
Weird take on it. He doesnt own the street or the sidewalk or the section of his driveway that is on the public easement where it crosses the side walk to reach the street.
Deliberately aiming your sprinklers to hit persons on the public right of way is battery.
I am going to assume yhey arent using the children’s own driveway because some safety regulaion or other superceding interest like a fire hydrant or bank of mailboxes.
I’m going to guess the old fart has poor brain health that will result in younger than average death from stroke or dementia related causes.
Anti social behavior is often a clue.
He’s just an old curmudgeon who has no compassion.
Personally, disabled kids going on and off a bus near our property would not be a bother. Both the wife and I have compassion for genuinely disabled people, especially the little ones.
We live in the woods, thank God. But people like this 61 year old man live every where. A neighbor down the road is also very property conscious. If he catches someone parking on a public road near his property, he will first pull out the valve stems on the car in order to flatten tires. If someone commits a greater offense, he will pull out a gun and fire it into the ground next to them.
This guy is close to 70 and has been like this most of his life. We get along with him, many others don’t. I think he has combat PTSD issues.
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