Police say a man is facing charges after he sprayed students with disabilities using his sprinkler system during a dispute over a neighborhood bus stop in Ocala.
Antonio Roman, 61, was charged on Aug. 17 with four counts of stalking, two counts of battery on a disabled person and two counts of battery.
Since at least Aug. 8, 2024, police say Roman activated his sprinklers twice a day to “intentionally spray the family who lived next door,” officials with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office told Miami Herald reporters. This allegedly occurred specifically when two students with special needs were loaded and unloaded from the bus stop. Police told reporters that the father began wearing a swimsuit to “shield his children from Roman’s sprinklers.
Roman allegedly told deputies that he was angry about the bus stop’s location and that part of his driveway was being used for the wheelchair ramp. He is accused of using security cameras to track the arrival time of the bus and manually activating the sprinklers to douse the students.
When he returned to Florida from a secondary residence out-of-state, Roman turned himself in to police.
He was released from jail on bond on Tuesday, Aug. 19, jail records show. Roman was given a $500 surety bond per charge.
As the 2025-26 school year begins anew, more students will be walking, biking and taking the bus to school. With more pedestrians and bicyclists on the road, it is important for homeowners and drivers to be on alert and abide by all school zone and other traffic laws. Last week, an 11-0year-old girl was left with serious injuries after she was hit by a car near a school bus stop in Port St. Lucie, highlighting an ongoing safety concern for children.
Though data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for 2025 does not differentiate between adults and children, it shows a total of 6,047 pedestrian crashes in Florida with 323 deaths. In Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, where Leesfield & Partners has two of three offices, the data showed 1,090 and 25 pedestrian crashes as of August 2025.
In Miami-Dade County, there have been 43 pedestrian deaths for 2025 while in Monroe County there have been three deaths.
Leesfield & Partners
In nearly five decades of personal injury practice, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have seen all manner of injury that can occur on Florida roads, including horrific crashes involving children. In one case, handled by Partner Justin B. Shapiro, a minor was severely injured when he was hit by a speeding driver as he attempted to cross the street to board his school bus. The boy was airlifted to the hospital and left with permanent brain injuries. In addition to the driver, Mr. Shapiro also held the bus driver accountable.
In Florida, school bus drivers must stop as far to the right as possible when allowing children to board and disembark from the bus. Drivers must stop when the bus displays its lights and extends its stop signs. All vehicles traveling in either direction must stop and remain stopped until the bus retracts its stop arm and the lights are turned off.
The only exception is when a vehicle is traveling in the opposite direction on a divided highway with an unpaved median of at least 5 feet, a raised barrier, or a physical separation. In those instances, the driver is not required to stop but should proceed with caution.
Under Florida law, failing to stop for a school bus is a moving violation. First-time offenders face a minimum fine of $200, four points on their driver’s license and a mandatory completion of a driver improvement course. If a driver unlawfully passes a school bus on the side where children are loading or unloading, the penalty increases to a minimum $400 fine and four points on their license. Repeat violations may result in driver’s license suspension.
In this case, the school bus driver indicated for the children to cross the street while not stopped as far to the right as possible in an area where visibility was low and it was still dark outside. Additionally, there was no designated crosswalk where the children could safely be seen crossing the street. In failing to ensure proper visibility and by not stopping as far to the right as possible, the bus driver left the group of children, including our client, vulnerable to injury, resulting in this preventable tragedy.
Mr. Shapiro secured a confidential settlement in that case.
Previous Pedestrian Cases
Previously, Leesfield & Partners obtained an $8.5 million settlement following a $27 million arbitration award for the family of a young woman who was killed by a pickup truck driver while attempting to cross the street. The woman, a wife and mother of two, was visiting Florida from her home in Toronto, Canada, when she was crushed by a pickup truck. The driver in that case claimed to not have seen her.
The firm secured a $6 million settlement for a woman who was violently hit by a car as she walked back to her office following a midday break. The woman had the right-of-way as she walked through a marked crosswalk. Despite this, a pickup truck driver made an illegal left turn and slammed into her, claiming to not have seen our client despite the clear traffic signs.
Her injuries included a series of skull fractures, brain hemorrhages and injuries to her left leg.
Mr. Shapiro handled this case and secured the maximum recoverable amount for the injured client.
In one case out of Key West, a driver distracted by adjusting their car’s GPS crashed into a bicyclist stopped on the shoulder of the Overseas Highway. The bicyclist suffered multiple life-threatening injuries from the accident. A $5.35 million settlement was reached by Leesfield & Partners attorneys.
The firm represented another pedestrian in a case against a negligent driver that resulted in a $2.9 million recovery amount.
Leesfield & Partners represented a family whose loved one was a pedestrian who died as the result of injuries sustained in a crash with a negligent driver. The firm recovered over $1.3 million for the family in that case.
In another pedestrian case, this time involving a minor, Leesfield & Partners settled for $1.2 million. The child in this case was crossing the street when he was hit by a speeding driver. The child in this case suffered a traumatic brain injury from hitting his head on the pavement.
Motor Vehicle Accident Cases
In the case of a 27-year-old motorcyclist who suffered severe and life-altering injuries due to a defect with his kickstand, the firm obtained a $19.8 million award. As our client was traveling on his motorcycle, the kickstand suddenly engaged, causing it to spin out of control and rendered him a high-level quadriplegic.
Mr. Leesfield spent approximately two decades working on cases in which clients were severely injured or killed because of issues with a motorcycle kickstand, resulting in manufacturing changes that have saved countless lives.
The firm handled another case out of Key West which involved the permanent injury and disfigurement of a man riding a scooter who was hit by an ambulance. The man had a green light and, as he crossed the intersection, was hit by an ambulance and thrown into a cement wall. The man was airlifted to the hospital and was hospitalized for 12 days while he received treatment. In addition to multiple broken bones in his face and injuries to his teeth, the man’s back was fractured in three places. One vertebra was almost completely crushed in the incident. The ambulance driver said that because he was on the way to an emergency, he had the right of way, but no lights or siren signaled that he was in the middle of an emergency that would prompt other drivers on the road to yield to his emergency vehicle or know that he would not stop at the red light.
Attorneys with the firm secured a $2.1 million award for the client in that case.
Bernardo Pimentel, a Trial Attorney at the firm, secured a $1 million settlement for a devastated family following a fatal motor vehicle accident.
The firm previously worked on a case involving a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy and his son who were involved in a crash on Overseas Highway. The other driver failed to yield and pulled out right in front of the father and son’s car, causing the high-speed crash. Security footage from nearby businesses and dashboard data concluded that the deputy was not speeding at the time of the crash. The other driver’s insurance company tendered its $300,000+ policy limits.
Evan Robinson, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Lawyer, secured a six-figure settlement of a combined bodily injury award and uninsured motorist policy coverage for a client injured while on the road in Monroe County.
Mr. Pimentel secured a confidential amount for the family of a young boy who was hit by a car when it crashed through the front of a Florida discount store where he was shopping with his mother.
In an ongoing case being handled by Mr. Shapiro and Trial Attorney Eric Shane a Key west man’s life was forever changed due to the negligent actions of a driver. Our 46-year-old client was approaching a Key West intersection on his motor scooter when a driver, who had a stop sign, failed to yield the right of way to our client, causing a collision between the vehicle and the scooter. He was ejected and hit the driver’s windshield before falling unconscious to the ground. He was transported to the hospital with a crushed left tibia and fibula and severe head trauma.
Today, he remains in a long-term care facility with a traumatic brain injury.
“Sadly, our client’s life has been destroyed by this crash and he remains in in-patient rehabilitation,” Mr. Shane said. “We are aggressively pursuing all avenues of recovery under the law.”
Leesfield & Partners filed suit in the case of a man in a wheelchair who was hit by a speeding car. His severe injuries resulted in doctors being forced to amputate his leg. Carlos A. Fabano, a Trial Lawyer with the firm, is handling the ongoing case.
Back-to-School Safety Tips
- Never pass a school bus that is stopped, allowing children to board or disembark.
- Keep your eyes on the road and avoid distractions such as radios, GPS systems, and cell phones.
- Adhere to reduced speed laws when in school zones. In data from the FLHSMV, approximately 41,000 citations were issued across the state to drivers who did not adhere to school or work zone speeding regulations.
- Only drive or park in designated areas for pickup or drop-off.
- Always check and make sure you have proper visibility when putting your car in reverse. A 2023 survey showed that over 40% of all back over incidents injured children 10 years old and younger, according to the FLHSMV press release.
- Always use designated crosswalks when crossing the street.
- Always wear a seatbelt in the car and be sure your passengers have on their seatbelts as well.
- Always check your backseat for children and pets