Gainesville man arrested for threatening convenience store clerk with gun after juvenile girls were trespassed for stealing fountain drinks

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Curtis Alexander Williams, 30, was arrested yesterday after allegedly threatening a convenience store clerk with a gun after the clerk trespassed two juvenile females from the store for stealing fountain drinks; according to his arrest report, Williams is the father of at least one of the girls.

Shortly before 10:57 a.m. on April 13, a clerk at Sunoco (4207 NW 13th Street) told two juvenile girls that they were trespassed from the store because they stole two fountain drinks. The clerk went to the back office, and he told the responding Gainesville Police Department officer that when he came out, Williams, who is the father of at least one of the girls, walked into the store and started yelling at him.

The clerk said Williams threatened to beat him up and said he had something for him, cursing and yelling at the clerk to come out so he could “mess him up.” The clerk said Williams said “he got that thing on him.”

The clerk immediately called 911 and hid in the back office, in fear for his life because he believed Williams had a gun and would shoot him. When the officer asked the clerk why he believed Williams had a gun, the clerk said that’s what it means when someone says he “got that thing on him”. The clerk said he was very familiar with Williams, who is a frequent customer, and he looked up his name from Williams’s rewards account.

The officer viewed surveillance video from the store and reported that Williams entered the store at about 10:57 a.m. and started pacing in front of the register; Williams’s hand was in his front hoodie pocket, and there appeared to be something heavy in the pocket. Williams reportedly walked close to the counter and waved his other hand as if he were speaking. He appeared to be agitated, left the store after about three minutes, then returned about a minute later; he left and returned several times.

The officer arrived at about 11:07 a.m. and reportedly found Williams sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle. The officer ran the tag from the vehicle and spoke briefly to Williams.

A second officer arrived, went into the store, and called out to the victim, who came out of the back office. Williams reportedly came back into the store, and the victim identified him as the man who had threatened him. The officer asked the clerk if he wanted to trespass Williams, and after the clerk said he did, the officer asked Williams to leave at least three times, but he allegedly refused to leave.

When an officer tried to detain Williams, he allegedly pulled away and was taken to the ground before being detained in handcuffs.

An inventory of Williams’s car before towing reportedly produced two firearms: one was in the driver’s side door pocket with no holster and was found to be stolen from Clay County, and the other was under the front passenger seat. A small cannabis blunt was also reportedly found in the vehicle.

Post Miranda, Williams reportedly said he went to the store to talk to the clerk but didn’t say anything about having “that thing on him.” He reportedly admitted that officers told him to leave three times but “grabbed” him as he was turning to leave; he said he didn’t leave right away because he wanted to ask the clerk a question. He said the firearms were his; when asked about the stolen gun, he said he found it in a park in Jacksonville.

Williams has been charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, grand theft of a firearm, resisting an officer without violence, and trespassing after a warning. He has two misdemeanor convictions (non-violent). Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered him held without bail on the aggravated assault charge, pending a hearing on a motion by the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; she set bail at $60,000 on the other three 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.