Gainesville man arrested for stealing purses from cars at City parks, using stolen bank cards to buy gift cards

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Masud D’Andre Headen, 32, was arrested yesterday and charged with stealing purses from two vehicles and using stolen bank cards to buy gift cards from Walmart.

On September 3, the first victim parked her car at Depot Park at about 7 a.m. and went for a run; when she returned to her car, her purse was missing.

The victim canceled all of her cards, but one of them had already been used to purchase gift cards for $969.65 at the northwest Walmart.

Surveillance video showed a man whose face was hidden by an oversized tan hoodie purchasing the gift cards; however, the video showed a tattoo that wrapped around the man’s right wrist.

At about 3:53 p.m. on September 19, the Loss Prevention Officer at the store contacted a Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officer to let him know the same man, wearing the same tan hoodie, had been in the store and had just left, but the Loss Prevention Officer recorded the license plate number on the man’s vehicle. The man again purchased gift cards.

About an hour later, the same man returned to the store and again purchased gift cards.

Patrol officers who were already in the area met outside the store, waited for the man to come out, and detained him. The man reportedly dropped a credit card on the ground when he was being apprehended, allowing officers to identify the second victim.

A short time later, the second victim went to GPD Headquarters to report that her vehicle had been burglarized at Thomas “Ray” Massey (Westside) Park (1001 NW 34th Street). She said a window was broken on her vehicle, and her purse was missing. The second victim reported a charge of $966.13 to one of her cards.

A Walmart employee pulled up Headen’s transaction and reported that he purchased two $475 gift cards and added a Gatorade, so the purchase was exactly $966.13.

Post Miranda, Headen reportedly confessed to both incidents and said he had been burglarizing cars lately because of his drug habit; he also reportedly identified himself in the video showing the tattoo.

When asked about the earlier visit to Walmart on September 19, Headen reportedly said he didn’t remember where he’d been earlier in the day and didn’t know if he had burglarized any other vehicles that day.

Headen has been charged with two counts of vehicle burglary, grand theft, petit theft with two or more prior convictions, and two counts of fraudulent use of a bank card. He has 10 felony convictions (non-violent) and 11 misdemeanor convictions (non-violent); he has served one state prison sentence and was released in September 2024. Judge Sheree Lancaster set bail at $100,000.

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.