Gainesville man arrested for string of residential burglaries while victims were sleeping

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Cedric Laroyce Johnson, 36, was arrested yesterday and charged in five residential burglary cases, all of which occurred while the occupants were sleeping.

At 5:24 a.m. on November 20, 2024, security cameras outside one victim’s residence caught a man walking up to the property, trying the side door, and then opening the back sliding glass door. The cameras then showed the man leaving with an interior security camera in his hand; the man went to the driveway and used a car key stolen from the residence to open the car and steal a wallet; the total value of the items was $300. The occupants of the house, including an infant, were asleep during the burglary.

At 4:52 a.m. on November 22, security cameras at a different house showed the same man walking up to the property, trying to open car doors, and trying to open the back door of the residence.

At 2:31 a.m. on December 1, the same man was captured on a security camera at a different house; in this incident, the man was wearing gloves and was captured in the back yard, carrying a window screen. He tried to open the back door but was unable to enter because the door was locked. The resident was sleeping inside the house at the time of the incident.

At 1:34 a.m. on December 10, the same man was captured on surveillance video at a different house, where he entered the fenced back yard and then entered the enclosed back patio. He tried to open a sliding glass door, but it was locked. The residents of the house were sleeping at the time.

At 3:17 a.m. on December 10, the same man was captured on security cameras entering the fenced back yard of another house; the security log on the back door registered the door opening and closing at 3:18 a.m., and then the back door opened and closed again, three minutes later. At 3:23 a.m., cameras show the man leaving the back yard, holding a wallet. The victim was sleeping in the house at the time of the burglary, and his wallet, which contained $100 in cash and some bank and identification cards, was taken from the dining room table.

The burglaries happened in multiple neighborhoods, including the 3900 block of SW 6th Place (Sugarfoot), the 3100 block of SW 5th Court, and the 2400 block of NW 52nd Place (Rainbows East).

Still images from the security cameras were run through facial recognition software, which identified the man as Johnson. A Gainesville Police Department detective also noted that law enforcement had made contact with Johnson on November 9, 2024, during a traffic stop, and he was wearing the same pants, shoes, and hat as the suspect in the burglaries. The suspect was also wearing a distinctive jacket in the surveillance video from the burglaries.

The driver in that traffic stop was contacted, and he reportedly identified his passenger as “CJ” and recognized his jacket and hat. He said he had been allowing “CJ” to borrow his car overnight for his “job.” The detective noted that the car can be seen on one of the burglary videos.

A warrant for Johnson’s arrest was issued on November 27, with bail set at $225,000. The GPD officer responding to the December 1 and December 10 burglaries noted that he immediately recognized Johnson on the video and that there was already a warrant for his arrest.

Johnson is also facing a sworn complaint from an incident at 4:53 a.m. on October 22, 2024, in which the victim reported that she was in her living room in the Sorrento subdivision when she received an alert from her security camera that showed a black man entering her rear screened porch. She said the man had climbed the wall from NW 53rd Avenue into her back yard, walked across her fenced back yard, and entered the back porch. When he saw the camera, he pulled it from its mount and then left.

The officer who had responded to the earlier burglaries recognized the man as Johnson and filed a sworn complaint, but Johnson has not yet been booked on that charge.

Johnson has been charged with three counts of burglary of an occupied dwelling, two counts of attempted burglary of an occupied dwelling, two counts of burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, and two counts of grand theft from a dwelling. Along with the sworn complaint for the October 22 incident, he has been issued a Notice to Appear for prowling.

Johnson has nine felony convictions (one violent) and two misdemeanor convictions (none violent). He has served two state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2020. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $530,000.

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.