Gainesville man arrested for stealing more than $2,000 in appliances
After being arrested by Gainesville Police on Saturday, a local man was handed additional charges Monday when deputies said he used a fake credit card to defraud two Gainesville Lowe’s locations of their appliances.
At about 1:20 p.m. on Aug. 21, Gainesville resident Ronald Boyd Neeb, 42, walked into the Lowe’s at 3101 Clark Butler Blvd. and left with about $1,018 worth of appliances, according to a police report.
Using the credit card, Neeb ordered a Whirlpool washer and dryer, according to the report.
About two hours earlier, he visited the Lowe’s at 2564 NW 13th St. and made off with a $699 portable generator and a $299 AC unit before packing the items into the back of a U-Haul truck, covering them with a tarp and leaving the area, according to the reports.
When GPD arrested Neeb on Saturday, they were unaware of the second theft, according to the report.
Neeb told police he knew the credit card was fake and that he has pulled off similar crimes about 200 to 250 times in Florida, according to the report. He said two other men, one in Tampa, Florida, and the other in Ghana, help him coordinate the crimes.
Police arrested Neeb on charges of fraud and grand theft. On Monday, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies added an additional grand theft charge to his record.
He was taken to the Alachua County Jail on Saturday where he remains, as of press time, in lieu of a $20,000 bond.
Local man pointed shotgun at friend, kicked him in the head
After some Monday-night drinking, a Gainesville man threatened his friend with a loaded shotgun, chased him down and kicked him in the head, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies said.
At about 8:45 p.m., Joel Angel Foster, 19, was drinking with a few friends in the 600 block of SW 67th Terrace before one friend, DeAngelo Smith, left, according to a police report.
After Smith walked out the front door and picked up a pair of headphones he dropped, Foster approached him with a pump-action shotgun aimed in his direction, according to the report.
Smith then got on a bicycle and rode away, but Foster and two other men chased after him, eventually knocking him off his bicycle and kicking him in the head, according to the report.
At some point during the scuffle, someone bit Smith in the back, according to the report. Smith later ran away from his pursuers.
Deputies arrested Foster on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery, according to the report.
Authorities took him to the Alachua County Jail where he remains, as of press time, in lieu of a $25,000 bond.
Newberry man drove into oncoming traffic, hit parked car
After taking a Xanax pill, a Newberry man drove his car into oncoming traffic Monday afternoon, narrowly hitting several motorists before eventually crashing into a parked car, Alachua Police said.
At about 1:30 p.m. Monday, Shawn Robert Hliwski, 35, drove his silver Toyota recklessly southbound on County Road 235A in Alachua, Florida, and veered off into the northbound lane, causing several cars to drive off the road, according to an APD report.
Hliwski then took a left at an intersection and drove northbound, again veering into oncoming traffic and forcing southbound-driving motorists to swerve off the road, according to the report.
At the end of his commute, he entered Alachua Apartments, located at 13605 NW County Road 235, and crashed into a parked car. He then reversed and parked next to the damaged car, according to the report.
While Hliwski left his car and walked toward the apartment, police arrived and noticed he was disoriented and “uncontrollably” swaying, according to the report. He told police he had taken a 2-milligram Xanax pill, a prescription sedative, prior to driving.
Police arrested him on charges of driving under the influence and hit and run.
Authorities took him to the Alachua County Jail where he remains, as of press time, in lieu of a $35,000 bond.
