A Gainesville man was arrested for loitering and prowling after officers observed suspicious behavior at about 2 a.m. Monday.
Gainesville Police Officer Rob Narayan observed Willie Strawder, 28, standing between parked cars in a dimly lit residential parking lot, according to a report. Strawder noticed Officer Narayan’s patrol car and began to walk away quickly before he was stopped in a Subway parking lot at 1000 W. University Ave.
GPD spokesman Ben Tobias said Strawder admitted he did not live in the area and did not own any of the vehicles he was near. Strawder failed to provide reason for being in the area.
Without Officer Narayan even asking him, Strawder denied looking into the car windows and said he was looking for a place to sleep.
After being read his rights, Strawder told GPD officers he was looking for a Dumpster, even though the parking lot only contained parked cars, according to a report.
Strawder’s bail is set at $2,000.
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A Gainesville man was arrested for grand theft of a motor vehicle early Sunday after he failed to return a rental car.
Enterprise reported the vehicle stolen Saturday after Kenari Myles Gardner, 21, did not return it on the date listed on the contract.
When first approached by GPD, Gardner said the vehicle belonged to a friend of his named “Bash” and said he could retrieve “Bash” from inside of a club with law enforcement’s permission.
He then told officers that he “ain’t even gonna lie” and that the vehicle in fact belongs to Enterprise.
Gardner was then handcuffed and transported to Alachua County Jail. His bail is set at $10,000.
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A Gainesville man was pistol-whipped during an altercation at about 10 a.m. Monday.
The victim told the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office he was fighting off two men in front of his home when one man hit him over the head with a chrome-plated revolver.
The victim said the men kept saying, “You know what’s up,” throughout the fight.
He told police he broke free and ran toward a neighbor’s home. The two men – Devon Mackey and Malcom Towns – fled in their vehicle.
Shortly after the incident, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division located the two men on Southeast Hawthorne Road.
Mackey was arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Towns was arrested for possession of ammunition by a convicted felon after officers said he was not directly involved in the fight.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 9/16/2014 under the headline "Police Roundup: loitering; grand theft; aggravated battery"]
