‘I’m not playing with you anymore.’ Man threatens girlfriend with sawed-off shotgun, cops say

Manatee County sheriff’s deputies found the victim inside her vehicle at about 3:15 a.m. on Aug. 14 crying hysterically as a broken knife lay next to her slashed tire.

Javier Gomez, 28, of Bradenton, would soon be in handcuffs.

According to the arrest report, Gomez terrorized the victim for quite some time before finally being apprehended.

Gomez and the victim had dated, but she wanted to break off the relationship. Deputies say Gomez went to the victim’s home and was talking to another person at the door when the victim arrived and an argument ensued.

The victim and witness got into her vehicle and drove away, but deputies say Gomez followed them and when they stopped, Gomez approached with a sawed-off shotgun in his hands, cocked the weapon and dragged the victim from the vehicle by her hair.

Deputies say Gomez then punched the victim twice in the head while screaming more than once, “I’m not playing with you anymore.”

The victim managed to get free and sped off with the witness, who had been pleading to Gomez not to kill her, which gave him enough pause for the two to get away, the report states.

Deputies say Gomez got back into his vehicle and once again pursued them as the victim called 911. According to the report, the two were instructed by the dispatcher to pull into a nearby opened business in the 5000 block of 14th Street West and await the arrival of law enforcement, but Gomez got there first.

The report states Gomez blocked their vehicle in, exited his truck with a knife and tried to get break into the victim’s vehicle. When he was unsuccessful, he slashed the victim’s tire with the knife and left the area just minutes before the first deputy arrived.

Deputies were able to locate Gomez a short time later and initiated a traffic stop, seeing a 12-gauge shotgun with a sawed-off barrel in plain view.

Gomez was booked into the Manatee County jail on a felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun, felony armed burglary of a conveyance and two misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

He remains in custody without bond.