Gainesville man arrested for armed robbery, attempted sexual battery

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Rodricas Javon Young, Jr., 23, was arrested last night and charged with home invasion robbery, attempted sexual battery, fraudulent use of a credit card, trespass after warning, and resisting an officer without violence after allegedly burglarizing an apartment and demanding the resident’s possessions, then demanding oral sex.

A Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a call from Metropolitan Apartments, 2209 SW 13th Street, at about 11:35 p.m. on Thursday night after a call about an armed robbery and attempted sexual battery. The victim told the officer he was alone in his ground-floor studio apartment; the apartment has three unscreened windows that face SW 13th Street. He said he heard a rustling outside the window and felt a hand touch him; the suspect had opened the window, grabbed the victim, and yelled at the victim to give him all his money or he would shoot him. The victim said he never saw a gun. The suspect also demanded a necklace worn by the victim, two laptops in plain view, his debit cards, and the PIN numbers for the cards.

The victim said that while he was gathering the items, the suspect demanded that he take off his clothes and perform oral sex on him. The victim complied by removing his clothes, but then he grabbed some other clothes, ran out of the apartment, and went to a neighbor’s apartment to call 911.

The victim gave the officer a description of the suspect as a smaller-build black man with gold and silver rings on his hand; the victim also recalled seeing a can of “Twisted Tea.”

The officer told the victim to lock his debit cards, and a short time later, the victim received notifications that the cards had been used to pay $120 on the Metro by T-Mobile website and a $10 e-scooter ride. The other card had four attempted Uber transactions.

As technicians processed the area outside the window, they found a flesh-colored “sex toy” on the ground; the victim said it was not his.

At about 10:30 a.m. the next morning, GPD officers responded to a report of a suspicious incident at Boardwalk Apartments, 2701 SW 13th Street. The manager of the complex reported that between 11:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. the previous night, a man entered the laundry room and stole clothing from several different machines. The video reportedly shows a small-build black man with a “Twisted Tea” in one hand and a flesh-colored “sex toy” sticking out of his backpack. The suspect had multiple rings on his hand. The detectives in that case identified the suspect as Young.

Also on Friday, an officer reviewed video from Metropolitan Apartments that showed Young walking up to the window of the victim’s apartment at about 11:32 p.m.; he left about 11:35 p.m.

A GPD officer saw Young at Dandy Liquor, 1308 E. University Avenue, at about 6:43 p.m. last night. The officer knew that Young had been trespassed from that property and that he was wanted in connection with the armed robbery. That officer reported that Young walked away in an attempt to avoid him, but the officer ran toward him and tackled him to the ground. He said that Young repeatedly tried to pull away while he and another officer attempted to gain control of him to handcuff him, but he was eventually arrested.

At the time of his arrest, Young was reportedly still wearing the rings seen in the videos. Several more “sex toys” were reportedly found in his backpack, along with some necklaces, a fake revolver-style handgun, and a pair of handcuffs with a key.

Post Miranda, Young reportedly said he did not do anything and was with his sister all night.

Young has four felony convictions (one violent). He was arrested in 2022 for taking a vehicle, $650 in cash, and several debit cards from an acquaintance and then using the debit cards to purchase several hundred dollars in items, but the charges were later dropped. He was convicted of cocaine possession and armed trespassing in June 2023 and sentenced to 90 days in jail with credit for 27 days served. He is being held on $185,000 bail.

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.