Career offender arrested for trying to hit woman with car

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Lovis Delona Wright Jr., 34, was arrested last night after allegedly chasing a woman in his car, trying to hit her; he was also booked on a warrant for failing to register as a career offender.

At about 10:15 p.m. on December 21, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a home on NE 15th Street, where the victim and two witnesses said Wright had chased the victim in his vehicle and had driven onto the sidewalk in an attempt to hit her.

The victim told the officer that Wright had been drinking all day and had started vomiting; when she tried to help him, he became “belligerent,” so she decided to leave. She said Wright blocked the door and kept pushing her away from the door in an attempt to prevent her from leaving; she said she bit her lip when he pushed her, and the officer reported that she had a small cut on her lip.

The victim said Wright drove away in his car, so she decided to call an Uber to leave, but while she was waiting, Wright returned, parked his car, and chased her on foot. She said he realized he could not catch her on foot, so he went back to get his car and began chasing her in his vehicle. The victim believed Wright intended to hit her with the car and told the officer she had never run so fast in her life.

The victim ran from the 1400 block of NE 1st Avenue to a residence near the intersection of NE 15th Street and East University Avenue, and Wright allegedly accelerated around another car and drove onto the sidewalk in front of the residence on NE 15th Street before getting out and running onto the porch of the residence. A man at that address said he briefly fought with Wright before Wright went back to his own home.

Post Miranda, Wright reportedly said he did nothing wrong and never put hands on the victim. However, he initially said he had gone to a park to get away from the victim before they argued, and when he returned to his home, he found that she had gone to the residence on NE 15th Street, so he drove over there to ask her why she was there. At another point, Wright reportedly said he had not seen the victim in “hours” and did not know where she had been.

Two witnesses reportedly corroborated the victim’s account of Wright chasing her with his vehicle.

Wright was also booked on a warrant for failing to register as a career offender; that sworn complaint was filed after an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy went to his registered address in August 2025 and found that he did not live there and the resident didn’t even know him.

Wright has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, and domestic battery. He has five felony convictions (non-violent) and 14 misdemeanor convictions (one violent) and has served two state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2017. The bail for the warrant was set at $50,000, and Judge Meshon Rawls added $80,000 bail on the new charges.

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.