Two men were arrested Tuesday and accused of running a human sex trafficking business in a Gainesville group home. The arrests happened at a Gate gas station on 3001 NW 13th Street at 4 p.m. The suspects' identities were confirmed as 20-year-old Kevarius Nyrtell King and 25-year-old Justin Terrel Hoyt. The victim was living in the Safe Hands Group Home, a housing service partnered with homeless shelters and co-owned by King since a little less than a year ago. The two men forced the victim into multiple sexual acts, sometimes without her consent, with dozens of men in the group home. Police were able to report the crime as the victim had told the staff at the Tower Road Branch Library that she was a victim of human trafficking and to alert the authorities. Through a search warrant of the group home, police were able to confirm the identities of King and Hoyt and later arrest and charge them with human sex trafficking. King and Hoyt are currently booked in the Alachua County Jail, each with release bonds set at $250,000.
Read More »Gainesville fugitive spends birthday in jail after high-speed pursuits
A man wanted on felony battery and robbery charges is spending his 37th birthday in the Alachua County Jail after he is accused of leading deputies and police on an impromptu, high-speed tour of west Gainesville early Monday, court records show.
Read More »Students at UF secretly recorded nude in dorm bathrooms, showers angry over sentence for man linked to cases at four universities
Alachua County Circuit Judge James M. Colaw last week sentenced Deontre Donnell Mason, 25, of Carterville, Illinois, to one year of house arrest followed by four years of probation with electronic monitoring. Mason pleaded no contest to nine felony charges of video voyeurism.
Read More »Alachua County Sheriff’s Office releases video of wrong-way pursuit that ended in crash on SW 34th Street
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office has released a more than 8-minute dash cam video of the law enforcement pursuit of a man driving a truck reported stolen in Tampa. That chase ended ended in a wreck on Gainesville’s Southwest 34th Street during Tuesday’s busy morning commute. The video is a …
Read More »Florida Highway Patrol chases stolen box truck, ends with traffic-blocking crash in Gainesville
There were no reports of injuries to police or bystanders.
Read More »‘Justice for Terrell Bradley’ mural painted over with swastika and ‘God Bless Derek Chauvin’
A mural on the 34th Street for Terrell Bradley, who lost his eye to a Gainesville Police K9 following a traffic stop, has become a battleground between calls for justice and symbols of white supremacy.
Read More »Man Arrested in Illinois on Charges He Secretly Recorded Video of UF Students in Dorm Bathrooms
The University of Florida Police Department confirmed a man who was wanted for recording video of female students in their dorm bathrooms has been arrested. Deontre Mason, 25, was arrested in Marion, Illinois, on nine charges of video voyeurism brought by UFPD and extradited back to Gainesville on Tuesday. According …
Read More »Driver in fatal hit-and-run of UF student sentenced to 6 years in prison, loses license for decade
A judge on Friday sentenced the driver in a hit-and-run that killed a University of Florida student to six years in prison with 15 years of felony probation and took away his driver’s license for the next decade.
Read More »Sentencing in fatal hit-and-run of UF student delayed over driver’s mysterious hospitalization
Alachua County Circuit Judge Phillip Pena was confused about the development and scheduled a new hearing Friday to learn specific details about the hospitalization of Joshua Alexander Figueroa, 32, of Gainesville. He said he did not want to draw out the criminal case any longer for either party.
Read More »Campus tragedy: New details in UF student’s hit-and-run death as driver to be sentenced to prison this week
Joshua Figueroa, 32, of Gainesville is expected to be sentenced to prison Wednesday on a felony charge of leaving an accident scene involving a death.
Read More »