WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
A man is in custody after Gainesville Police posted on social media that he allegedly stole a large excavator Monday night and drove it through a wall at the Butler Plaza Walmart at 2900 SW 42nd Street, causing damage to power poles and lines in the process.
The man was identified as Jesse Charles Smith, 47, of Trenton.
GPD posted photos on Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter, that show damage to the southwest wall of Walmart near the entrance to the store’s automotive department.
A traffic advisory was issued at about 9:30 p.m. for the area around Southwest 29th Avenue.
No further details were available at the time of this posting.
