Gainesville man arrested on DUI and other charges after allegedly threatening officers investigating crash that left his vehicle disabled on railroad tracks

Staff report

ALACHUA, Fla. – Chad Ray July, 34, of Gainesville, was arrested yesterday and charged with five felonies and five misdemeanors after allegedly threatening officers investigating a disabled vehicle on railroad tracks in Alachua.

An Alachua Police Department officer responded to a call about a car sitting on the railroad tracks near where Rachael Boulevard crosses under U.S. Hwy 441 and reportedly found July and his five-year-old daughter sitting in the car; the officer’s preliminary investigation determined that July had lost control of the vehicle on a curve and had driven onto the railroad tracks with enough force to rip the entire engine from the vehicle. The officer also reported that the child was unrestrained in the front passenger seat of the vehicle.

The officer reported that July did not seem to know what had happened and asked “What’s the problem?” when the officer approached. The officer also reported that he could smell an alcoholic beverage as he approached the vehicle and saw a handgun on the driver’s side floorboard.

The officer reportedly removed July and his daughter from the vehicle and away from the railroad tracks, noting that July was unsteady on his feet, with slurred speech and bloodshot eyes.

July allegedly became verbally aggressive and disobeyed repeated commands to step away from the busy roadway; he allegedly approached officers aggressively and kept trying to return to his vehicle. He said he would “Beat [an officer’s] *ss” and would “slap the sh*t out of [an officer].” He allegedly pointed to each officer, threatening to slap each one and making specific and individualized comments about physical features of each officer. The arresting officer reported that July is 6’10” and weighs 300 pounds, making the threats plausible and “extremely dangerous.”

When EMS arrived, July reportedly told them to stay away from him and his daughter, preventing medical personnel from evaluating his daughter for injuries. He also allegedly held his daughter in front of him, using her as a shield to prevent officers from using less-lethal force options to detain him. July reportedly said he had been tased before and would pull the probes out if officers tased him. The officer reported that his aggression and non-compliance “significantly delayed, obstructed, and impeded the investigation of the traffic crash, the removal of the vehicle from the tracks, and the rendering of care to his daughter.”

July eventually relinquished his daughter to a family member who arrived at the scene of the crash and initially refused to perform field sobriety exercises but later agreed. The officer reported that July performed poorly on the field sobriety exercises and was arrested for DUI.

A search of the vehicle reportedly produced the firearm previously noted by the officer and three grams of marijuana.

July has been charged with DUI with a blood alcohol level of .15 or higher with a minor in the vehicle, child neglect without great bodily harm, three counts of threatening officers, three counts of simple assault on officers, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.

July has four misdemeanor convictions (none violent), along with a case where adjudication of guilt was withheld on a charge of video voyeurism, a felony. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $286,500.

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. 

  • The good things:
    1. He was with his daughter.
    2. He is not (yet) a career criminal.

    The bad things:
    1. He was with his daughter.
    2. He is working towards being a convicted felon

  • What can you say. What an outstanding father figure. He says on his FB page he is a professional basketball player with Spriggs Sport Agency. So that explains a lot with his background and actions. Another athlete washout who thinks he is entitled to act like a POS.

  • Used his daughter as a shield from police? Gee, thanks Dad! He should have been shot, saved a lot of taxpayer money!

  • “July has been charged with DUI with a blood alcohol level of .15”

    Cool….pack up the kids and grab a bottle on the way to the car. Nothing like a little ‘family’ time?

  • >