Gainesville man charged with armed robbery while wearing elf costume

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Randall L. Lloyd, Jr., 29, was arrested on domestic battery charges on August 15 and has now been charged with a previously unsolved armed robbery of Smoke City in December by a man wearing an elf costume.

On December 22, 2023, at about 9:37 p.m., a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a call about an armed robbery at Smoke City (2107 NW 13th Street). Surveillance video reportedly showed a man entering the store, brandishing a handgun and saying, “I need money and weed, right now.” The man placed a brown paper bag on the counter, and clerks reportedly put cash and THC products into the bag; the clerks reported that the man left the store with at least $600 in cash and $200 in THC products.

The suspect was described as a black man wearing a green elf onesie with red trim at the edges of the sleeves, pants legs, and hood; the hood had a red ball at the top. The suspect was also carrying a black and gray backpack with a black cord crisscrossed at the top and a large red and yellow logo at the bottom; he also had a black watch and a thick ring with thin metallic bands around the outside and black in the center. The clerks reportedly said the man pointed an object that appeared to be a black handgun at them several times during the robbery.

While an officer was investigating the reported domestic battery on August 15 at Georgetown Apartments, a person at the scene showed the officer a green and red elf onesie and said Lloyd had robbed a smoke shop several months ago. This witness said Lloyd had worn the costume in the past; the officer reported that the costume was identical to the one in the video from the armed robbery.

The next day, an officer spoke with a second witness, and that witness showed the officer a black and gray backpack with a black cord crisscrossed on top and a red and yellow “Food Dietary Services” logo on the bottom. The officer learned that Lloyd does not own a firearm, but the individual showed him a BB gun that was identical to the handgun in the video. The witness confirmed that Lloyd had a watch matching the one shown in the robbery video and that Lloyd “came into a large amount of money in December,” but the witness believed he had won the lottery.

The officer reported that at the time of Lloyd’s arrest he was wearing a thick ring with silver trim on the outside and black in the center.

Post Miranda, Lloyd reportedly denied any involvement in the robbery but said the BB gun was his. The officer noted that Lloyd’s voice is “consistent with the suspect’s voice in the surveillance video.”

Lloyd is currently being held on charges of domestic battery, false imprisonment, armed robbery, and grand theft. He has one felony conviction (non-violent) and 12 misdemeanor convictions (non-violent); he has served one state prison sentence and was released in 2018. Judge William Davis set bail at $15,000 on the domestic violence charges, and Judge George Wright ordered him held without bail on the charges connected to the armed robbery.

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.