Arrest made in attack on man left unconscious in the street

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – David Wayne Walker, Sr., 63, was arrested yesterday and charged with attempted homicide after allegedly hitting a man in the head with a concrete block and leaving him unconscious in the street; the victim is reportedly in critical condition.

At about 8:55 p.m. on Monday, June 23, Alachua County Fire Rescue paramedics and Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers were dispatched to the 200 block of SE 14th Street regarding an unconscious man in the roadway. The victim had severe trauma to the head, and he was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.

On June 24, GPD asked the public for information about the incident, and several witnesses reportedly came forward.

The investigation found that at about 8:45 p.m. on Monday night, Walker and the victim got into an argument in the street that turned physical; the fight was reportedly part of an ongoing issue between the victim’s and Walker’s group of friends and began after the victim parked his vehicle on SE 14th Street and Walker picked up a concrete block and said he was going to “end this now.”

Walker allegedly smashed the rear passenger side window of the victim’s car with a concrete block and then picked up another concrete block and threatened to break the front passenger side window. The victim reportedly got out of his car and confronted Walker; a witness reportedly said the victim did not have any weapons in his hands and it looked like the victim and Walker were going to get into a fist fight.

A bystander reportedly tried to intervene to stop the fight, but Walker allegedly knocked the victim and the bystander to the ground and then picked up a piece of a concrete block and swung it at the victim. The witness reportedly said this was surprising because Walker “can fight” and did not need to pick up a piece of concrete.

Bystanders were reportedly shouting at Walker to put down the concrete block and a bystander kept trying to protect the victim from Walker, but Walker allegedly yelled at him to get out of the way and hit the bystander’s hand while trying to hit the victim in the head with the concrete block.

A witness reportedly said that once the victim fell to the ground, he never got up again, but Walker continued to swing the concrete block, indicating that the victim was hit repeatedly with the concrete block after he was knocked down. The witness could not see whether the block hit the victim in the head but said nobody else had a concrete block or hit the victim.

The arrest report notes that the evidence at the scene matched the witness’s account, including pieces of concrete with blood on them and a smashed window and broken mirror on the victim’s vehicle.

A witness told an officer that he had never seen Walker act like that and that he seemed to have “just lost it.” He said Walker had been drinking throughout the day, which was not unusual, but he “wasn’t himself”; he said after the bystanders realized how badly injured the victim was, they felt Walker had gone too far, but Walker was still angry and said he was “tired of [the victim].”

Two additional witnesses reportedly told officers that they had heard Walker was responsible for the victim’s injuries.

An officer reported that video taken by a bystander showed Walker at the scene of the attack.

The damage to the victim’s vehicle is estimated at about $2,000.

Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted in apprehending Walker at Southern Pines Apartments (SW 17th Place near SW 42nd Street).

Walker has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and property damage over $1,000. He has five felony convictions (three violent) and four misdemeanor convictions (two violent); he has served two prison sentences and was released in 1992 or 1993, according to a court document. Judge Meshon Rawls ordered him held without bail on the attempted homicide charge, pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing and added to the $10,000 bail for the property damage charge.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.