A former University of Florida student is being charged with violating probation after being arrested during a protest of an anti-abortion demonstration on campus.
Ian Dinkla, 22, who was arrested in March and sentenced in June on petit theft and resisting arrest charges for his participation during the anti-abortion demonstration, was arrested on a DUI charge Oct. 3. He is booked in Alachua County Jail in the DUI case and now faces a felony charge of violating terms of his probation.
Dinkla pleaded no contest to the abortion demonstration charges and was placed on probation for 24 months. As part of his sentence, Dinkla was ordered not to use intoxicants excessively or possess any drugs or narcotics unless prescribed.
On Oct. 3, Alachua County sheriff’s deputy Malcolm Wilson responded to a DUI investigation on Newberry Road. Another officer reported that Dinkla was driving erratically and initiated a traffic stop on his vehicle.
Wilson observed Dinkla had dilated pupils and a flushed face, he then conducted a field sobriety test and said Dinkla performed poorly, resulting in his arrest, according to the arrest report.
After arrest, Dinkla told the deputy he had consumed illicit narcotics two hours before going to a movie theater for a few hours.
Months prior, Dinkla and Bryn Taylor, the former co-president of UF Graduate Assistants United, were arrested March 10 on campus after Dinkla took a sign from an anti-abortion demonstrator and resisted arrest. Taylor was accused of striking a police officer with a bullhorn.
Created Equal, a traveling anti-abortion group set up 4-foot-tall signs depicting images of unborn fetuses, and Dinkla took one, valued at $120, according to the arrest report.
Dinkla pushed a UF police officer away and then pulled away after the officer tried to detain him. Dinkla was originally charged with robbery by sudden snatching and resisting arrest with violence, but pleaded no contest to charges of petit theft and resisting arrest without violence, according to arrest reports.
Dinkla and Taylor are trespassed from UF properties for the next three years.
Dinkla is not registered for classes for the fall semester, according to university spokesperson Cynthia Roldan.
In a separate event on Sept. 12, Dinkla was recorded on a neighboring victim’s Ring Doorbell surveillance video holding a club baton making allegedly “menacing’ striking motions to the surveillance camera. The victim was not inside their home at the time of the incident but temporarily relocated out of the apartment complex and reported the situation, according to the sworn affidavit.
Dinkla told officers he was using the club to follow the beat of a song he was listening to and did not mean to make his action appear violent or that he was targeting the victim, according to the sworn affidavit.
A violation of probation warrant was issued Oct. 2 after the incident, one day before he was arrested for a DUI.
Dinkla entered a plea of not guilty for his DUI charge and his court-appointed attorney Yolanda Means asked the judge to adjust his violation of probation’s no bond. The judge refused.
Dinkla has a pre-trial conference court date set for Nov. 30.
___
This is a breaking news story. Check back for further developments. Contact WUFT News by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.