Gainesville man arrested for breaking car window to steal $15

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Darius Julius Stacy, 37, was arrested yesterday for allegedly breaking the window of a car parked at a Dollar General and taking $15 in cash.

At about 1:20 p.m. on December 21, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to Dollar General (2400 SE Hawthorne Road), where the victim said that while she was inside the store, someone said her car window had been smashed by an unknown person. The officer said the victim noticed that three $5 bills were missing from her cup holder, and there was a large metal pipe on the floorboard of the car.

A witness reportedly told the officer that a man wearing jogger pants had broken the window and had then rummaged around inside the vehicle; the witness said the man’s pants were too big, and he kept having to pull them up.

A second witness told the officer that she recognized the man, his last name was Nobles, and he was previously arrested for breaking into a store in the area; Stacy was identified as the suspect who broke into the Eastside Food Store (3423 SE Hawthorne Road) in 2023.

The officer viewed surveillance video from Dollar General and saw a man sitting outside the store at about 1:18 p.m. At about 1:20 p.m., the man got up and looked inside the victim’s car window, and then he walked over to a nearby construction site and came back holding a pipe, which he threw through the window of the vehicle. The man briefly leaned into the car, took something, and left. The officer noted that while the man was walking around, it appeared that his pants were too big because he kept pulling them up. The video was not clear enough to see the man’s face.

At about 5:29 p.m., the officer was driving westbound on NE 8th Avenue when he saw a man matching the description of the suspect; the officer noted that the man, later identified as Darius Stacy, was wearing jogger pants and was constantly pulling up his pants.

The officer pulled over and asked Stacy if he would speak with him; Stacy agreed and walked over to the officer, and the officer noted that he was holding a $5 bill in his hand. The officer said the name Stacy gave him “did not make sense,” so he asked if his last name was Nobles; Stacy reportedly said his mother’s last name was Nobles and then provided his correct name.

One of the witnesses positively identified him as the man she had seen breaking into the car.

Post Miranda, Stacy denied ever being near Dollar General.

Stacy has been charged with burglary of an unoccupied vehicle. He has seven felony convictions (two violent) and four misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he has served one state prison sentence and was released in 2009. In 2024, Stacy was convicted of burglarizing a business and sentenced to probation, but he eventually served 364 days in jail after violating probation. A sworn complaint was filed in 2024, alleging that he stole three vehicles, claimed ownership of them, and sold them to metal recycling companies without the permission of their owners, but the charges were later dropped. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $25,000 on the new charge.

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.