Tevin Duval, a 34-year-old Alachua man, was charged Tuesday with theft, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, distribution of imitation drugs, resisting an officer and smuggling contraband in a detention facility.
On Monday, Duval entered a Circle K off U.S. Highway 441 and asked the cashier for several lottery tickets. As the cashier scanned the tickets, Duval crossed the counter, took $154 worth of scratch-off tickets and fled the scene, according to the arrest report.
The Alachua Police Department arrived at the scene. When they left, Duval returned to the Circle K but fled when the same cashier confronted him.
The following morning, an officer saw Duval, whom they suspected of the theft and identified from previous petit theft charges, riding a bicycle near Clarion Pointe on U.S. Highway 441. He initially refused to stop for the officer, according to the report, but eventually gave in.
After stopping, he refused to get off the bike and attempted to leave. The officer ran up to him, pushed him off the bike and attempted to handcuff him, according to the report. Duval continued to resist until backup officers arrived and placed him in handcuffs.
Law enforcement searched him and found a small plastic bag containing 0.3 grams of cocaine. They also found 50 small plastic bags in a bag on the bike Duval was riding.
One of the bags contained two acetaminophen pills, an over-the-counter pain reliever. According to the report, the pills appeared to be packaged for sale.
Officers also found a box of acetaminophen pills he presumably used to fill the bags and two plastic straws that appeared to have drug residue inside them.
According to the report, officers concluded Duval may have been selling the pills as an imitation controlled substance, meaning he was marketing the pills as a different drug.
After Duval was transported to the Alachua County Jail, staff searched him and found another straw and bag of cocaine.
His bond is set for $105,000 as he awaits trial.
Contact Teia Williams at twilliams@alligator.org. Follow her on X @teia_williams.
Teia Williams is a journalism senior at UF and the Fall 2026 criminal justice reporter. This is her fourth semester with The Alligator. If she isn't writing an article, you can find her a concert, reading a book or somewhere soaking up the sun.
