Gainesville man arrested for burglarizing former employer, pawning stolen devices

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jacoby Uriah Emmanuel Anderson, 33, was arrested yesterday for allegedly entering his former employer’s business and stealing cash; he also allegedly stole a phone from the business in January, and the manager of the business said multiple iPads are missing.

On March 19, Anderson allegedly entered Luke’s New York Bagels (620 S. Main St.) through a window and took $115 from the cash register.

On March 20, a Gainesville Police Department officer saw Anderson entering a pawn shop and arrested him for the burglary. When he was arrested, Anderson reportedly was trying to sell an iPad to the pawn shop.

Anderson’s recent pawn activity showed that he had pawned a new $800 Samsung Galaxy phone on March 10 for $40. The pawn shop manager said Anderson is a frequent customer.

The phone’s contacts included the manager of Luke’s New York Bagels, and the manager said the phone had been used to take orders at a different Luke’s New York Bagels store in Gainesville (150 NW 6th St.); the manager noticed that the phone was missing on January 31, and all of the employees, including Anderson, reportedly denied knowing what happened to it.

The manager told a police officer that between seven and nine iPads have gone missing from the store recently; these iPads were in a storage compartment because they were no longer in use. The manager told the officer that he would find the serial numbers of the iPads to see if one of them was the iPad Anderson was trying to pawn when he was arrested.

Anderson has been charged with dealing in stolen property, burglary, grand theft, and providing false information on a pawn form. He is a designated Violent Felony Offender of Special Concern and has 11 felony convictions and six misdemeanor convictions; he has served four state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2018.

In November 2025, after he was arrested for his second violation of probation in a 2024 battery case, Anderson wrote in a letter to Judge David Kreider, “I’m not a bad person, I just made some bad decisions in my past… I admit that I was in violation and that I made a mistake that I sincerely apologize for. It won’t happen again. I am a born again believer in Jesus Christ and I have changed my ways tremendously… I am able to follow the rules and regulations of society and I’m asking for a second chance to prove that I am able to do so.” On December 9, 2025, Judge Kreider sentenced him to 28 days in jail with credit for 28 days served.

Judge Sheree Lancaster set bail at $50,000 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.