Ft. White man arrested for multiple Gainesville burglaries

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Robert Albert Willette, 54, was arrested yesterday and charged with multiple burglaries and thefts in the downtown area.

At 5:30 a.m. on August 21, a man was caught on surveillance video on the back porch of a home in the 100 block of SE 7th Street. Over the next 30 minutes, the video showed him taking numerous items and placing them in a large wheeled trash can. At about 6:07 p.m., the resident of the house woke up and confronted the man, who fled on foot.

The victim reported that the man came back a few minutes later and tried to take the trash container, but the victim again confronted him, and he fled. The items in the trash can were reportedly valued at about $500.

The victim told the responding Gainesville Police Department officer that he saw Willette in a neighbor’s vehicle, and the neighbor reportedly found that both rear doors of her vehicle were open, with her belongings thrown all over the car. She said nothing was missing, thanks to her neighbor’s interruption of the vehicle burglary.

A few hours later, the same man was reportedly caught on video taking bags of potting soil from outside a home in the 1100 block of SE 13th Avenue.

The responding officer reported that the surveillance video showed a large tattoo on the suspect’s chest, and when the image was run through a law enforcement database, the suspect was identified as Willette. Another officer also reported an interaction with Willette outside First Presbyterian Church on August 18, and a third officer reported that Willette was the subject of a call about a suspicious person at City Hall on August 19; the large tattoo is reportedly shown on that officer’s body-worn camera.

At 3:20 p.m. on August 21, Willette was reportedly located at the Downtown Library; post Miranda, he reportedly refused to speak with the officer.

Willettte has been charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of petit theft so far. He has eight felony convictions (three violent) and 20 misdemeanor convictions (eight violent); he has served five state prison sentences, with his most recent release in April 2024 after serving an eight-year sentence on a case out of Columbia County. Judge Kristine Van Vorst set bail at $80,000.

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.