Gainesville man arrested for exposing himself and throwing soda on juveniles

Staff report

Updated on February 16 with bail information.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – William Turner Heath, 47, was arrested last night for allegedly throwing a soda on two juveniles at McDonald’s and then exposing himself to the juveniles.

At about 8:41 p.m. on February 7, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to the McDonald’s at 2880 NW 13th Street, where the juvenile victims said they were seated in the center dining area when Heath entered the store. The victims said they looked at Heath while he was at the counter, and he became visibly agitated and walked toward them; this led to a verbal argument, and Heath allegedly threw a soda in the direction of the victims, hitting two of them.

The victims, who were 15 and 17 years old, said Heath walked out of the store and lay down in the bushes near the sidewalk, and they followed him while confronting him about throwing the soda at them.

A witness reportedly tried to defuse the situation; she told the officer that she saw Heath throw a soda at the victims and said the victims did not initiate any physical confrontation. She said Heath walked outside and lay down in the bushes, where he loudly said he had been punched and yelled obscenities.

The victims said Heath yelled obscenities and racial and sexual slurs at them and then turned over, pulled down his pants, exposed his buttocks, smacked his buttocks, and rubbed one butt cheek “in a lewd manner” toward the victims. The officer reported that the victims provided a video of the incident that showed Heath intentionally exhibiting his buttocks towards the juvenile victims. The officer noted that surveillance video from the store was unavailable because a manager was not there, but he saw soda covering seats, tables, and the floor inside the store, and two of the victims had wet spots on their shirts; the third victim said he had avoided being hit with the soda.

Post Miranda, Heath reportedly admitted to throwing a soda at the victims and intentionally exposing his buttocks toward them because he was “upset and insulted.”

Heath has been charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition and two counts of battery. He has no local criminal history. Judge Mitchell Bishop ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial. However, the State Attorney’s office withdrew the motion, and Judge Denise Ferrero set bail at $60,000.

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.