ACSO: Man stole car, crashed into cop car, went to Checkers

Elmere Croushore left his Jeep alone for a few moments Sunday as he grabbed a drink from a Gainesville gas station.

When he returned, the car was gone, stolen by a 19-year-old at about 10 p.m. outside Shell Gas Station’s Food Mart, located at 6900 W. Newberry Road, according to a police report.

Tarik Jaquan Simmons, a Gainesville resident, was eventually caught by Alachua County deputies. Multiple deputies and Gainesville Police officers found the car near the Knights Inn, located at 2820 NW 13th St., by tracking Croushore’s phone, which he left inside, according to the report.

A witness told GPD officers they saw three or four men unloading items from a car, and when law enforcement arrived on the scene, Simmons fled from the Jeep, which then crashed into a GPD car, according to the report.

Simmons and accomplice Alif Tyshane Wiley, 19, then ran away and entered a Checkers drive-thru lane, pretending to be customers, according to the report.

The Knights Inn is plagued with high rates of crimes, such as prostitution and drug sales, according to the report.

Deputies arrested Wiley on a charge of resisting without violence and took him to the Alachua County Jail where he remains, as of press time, in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

They arrested Simmons on charges of grand theft auto and resisting without violence and took him to the jail where he remains, as of press time, in lieu of a $200,000 bond.