Clovis Watson IV arrested for stalking

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

On July 3, 2020, the Combined Communications Center received “numerous” calls with reports that Clovis Watson IV, 27, was trying to follow his ex-girlfriend home and crashing into her vehicle in the process. Callers also said he showed up at her apartment and displayed a handgun, then later returned to her apartment and broke into her vehicle. On the same date, the victim filed a sworn complaint against him for burglary of her 2009 Hyundai. GPD made contact with Watson on that date and advised him to stop contacting the victim.

Alachua Chronicle has been trying to obtain the incident reports of those calls since July 4, but we were told a few days ago that they were “not available for release at this time.”

On July 5, Watson’s ex-girlfriend called the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ASO), stating that Watson was still stalking her and that she wanted to know how to get an injunction.

On July 17, Watson was trespassed from the victim’s apartment complex (Verdant Cove Apartments).

On July 17 at 11:05 p.m., ASO and the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) responded to the area of 1800 SE Hawthorne Road, in response to a report that Watson was actively following his ex-girlfriend in a vehicle. GPD witnessed Watson driving right behind the victim, who had to run a red light to get away from him. When she got away, Watson was seen “yelling and throwing his hands around in an angry manner within his vehicle,” according to the arrest report. A witness in the victim’s car said Watson was hanging out of his window, yelling at them.

A witness who lives in the same building as the victim stated that she has seen Watson backed into a parking spot and revving his engine to try to get the victim’s attention. She said that since he knows he is unwelcome, he will change his clothes and return, and she said this has occurred multiple times.

Watson was arrested early this morning after the incident on Hawthorne Road and booked into the jail. Post-Miranda, he admitted to trying to talk to the victim by messaging her on social media and driving to her apartment complex, even after she had blocked his phone number.

Watson was previously charged with stalking in December of 2019 against the same victim, but the case was dropped because the victim did not appear to testify.