Baker County man charged with robbery and aggravated battery at downtown bar
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Marquise Rashad Williams, 29, of Margaretta, FL, was arrested yesterday and charged with aggravated battery, robbery, and property damage in connection with a June incident in a downtown Gainesville bar.
At about 1 a.m. on June 2, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to White Buffalo (111 S. Main Street), where the victim said a man had walked up behind her and grabbed her phone from her hand, then hit her with both his fist and her phone.
An employee of the bar told the officer he saw her fall and saw the man hit her at least two more times while she was on the ground.
The victim reportedly lost consciousness during the incident and suffered a concussion and damage to two vertebrae, along with other injuries. Her cell phone was recovered but was damaged, with the loss estimated at $600.
The suspect was later identified as Williams, and the employee reportedly identified him in a photo line-up. A warrant for Williams’ arrest was issued on June 7, with an address in Lake Butler; his arrest report lists an address in Baker County.
Williams reportedly refused to provide any residence or employment information to interviewers. He has two felony convictions (one violent) and eight misdemeanor convictions (two violent); he has served two state prison sentences, one out of Union County and one out of Columbia County, with his most recent release in 2020. He has a pending misdemeanor case in Clay County. Judge Kristine Van Vorst ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial.
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.Â
Pretty target on his forehead.
I was thinking exactly the same!
He’d be DRT if he tried that on me!
Glad that POS got that tat so he’s easily ID’d !
If the city commission would reopen SW 1st Avenue, there would be more spots for police to hang out there at night and keep an eye on things. There really is no room for that now unless they hang out literally in the middle of Main Street, which creates lots of congestion and is obviously not a good idea.
SW 1st Avenue is a historical street with historical storefronts, and it should have already been restored to pre-Covid conditions long ago. Anyone refusing to reopen it or still dragging their feet at this point should expect to be worked tirelessly against when it comes time for their next election.
Waiting for them to go out of business so the property can be put to ‘better use’, like E. & W. University near 13Th. Kinda’ funny when all those historic businesses folded, plans were apparently already waiting for the ‘right’ developers.
Agree. I don’t get why it is closed.
Looey’s and The Bull are the only places to maybe benefit and they don’t need or deserve the help.
Loosey’s
We USED to have a permanent FUNDED police presence downtown. City Commission did away with it (not sure which mayor/commission did it but betting it was under pegeen).
That coward could have killed her. he should be charged with attempted murder. He needs to be locked up for life!
Same old group doing the same old things. I note out of 19 people in mug shots 12 of them were this same group. Odd that, since they are only 13% of the population but according to the FBI they commit 78% of all crime.
Steely, I can see that you are racist for pointing out the obvious. Len made an excellent presentation with his analysis of Alachua County jail bookings for 2023. Note that the the jail log numbers show show a black white split of 59% to 41% which doesn’t look as bad as the national numbers until you consider the number 13%.
The jail bookings (all) indicate that 20% are age 18-25 jumping to 59% for age 26-45 as those young criminals continue to develop their skills.
Someone in the comments in a previous article mentioned the age factor, not for getting arrested but for learning how to behave in society – age 5 or 6 or maybe sooner. That would do a lot more for decreasing the jail population than Commissioner Prizzia’s soft on crime approach. Decrease crime and it naturally follows the jail population will decrease.
And why did the bouncer not beat this man to a pulp before calling the police???? Oh yeah, we need a conversation about this.
Great . . . no bail.