Florida prosecutors have filed a new felony theft charge against a homeless man accused of stealing electric scooters on the University of Florida campus. The case could send him to prison for years.
Newly filed court records show the State Attorney's Office upgraded the seriousness of the case against John Paul Stauff, 43, of Gainesville earlier this week. He is expected in court on Nov. 18. Stauff remains in the Alachua County Jail since his arrest last month.
Stauff had previously been charged with misdemeanors in cases related to the thefts.
The prosecutor’s office combined two of Stauff’s misdemeanor cases into a felony case on Nov. 7, following a bond hearing at the courthouse. The two cases had a total of $30,000 bonds, but when combined into a felony case, no bond was yet set.
Police arrested Stauff on Oct. 1 amid a spree of scooter thefts that angered and exasperated students who were victimized.
Stauff pleaded no contest in an earlier theft case, receiving a $376 fine that he did not pay.
Stauff had been arrested four times for scooter thefts prior to the Oct. 1 arrest, according to court records.
Two weeks prior to Stauff’s arrest, 20 bikes and scooters were reported stolen from outside dorms and campus, according to officials.
The rise in e-scooter thefts have led to law enforcement encouraging students to use non-traditional locks so that wire cutters cannot be used to steal their scooters.