Gainesville man charged with raping woman at The Lodge at Meridian

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Arrius Terrell Sanchez Irby, 34, was arrested on Friday for an alleged rape at The Lodge at Meridian in November 2024.

An Alachua County Sheriff’s Detective spoke with the victim on the date of the alleged rape, November 26, when she went to UF Health Shands Hospital to complete a sexual assault kit. At the time, the victim did not know the name of the man who raped her, but she thought another man would know. She said that both she and the other man lived at The Lodge at Meridian (4170 SW 13th Street), and she had received a text message from the other man a few minutes before the sexual assault, saying that a friend wanted to meet her. She said she told him she didn’t want to see anybody, but then a man showed up at her door.

The victim gave the detective some locations where the other man might be found, and two detectives spoke with that man at a park in Gainesville. The detectives reported that the other man seemed to be unaware of the situation and said he had lent his phone to someone named Arrius on November 25, but Arrius had stolen it instead of returning it. The other man reportedly provided consent for a search of his person and belongings, and no cell phone was found. The other man provided a description of Arrius and said he was wearing black sweat pants and a black shirt and was carrying a tan backpack.

The victim said there was a knock on her door after she received the text message from the other man’s phone, and when she answered the door, she found an unknown man standing there. She said he stepped inside her apartment and grabbed her by the waist, and then she blacked out. The next thing she remembered was waking up on the floor, and the man was sexually assaulting her. She said there was a second sexual assault, and then the man left.

The detective obtained surveillance video from Meridian that showed a man walking onto the property at about 2:28 a.m. on November 26 and then walking to the victim’s room. The man was wearing a black jacket and black pants and was carrying a tan backpack. The video showed the man knocking on the door and then standing directly up against the door. When the door opened slightly, the man stood there for a few seconds and then walked in; the man left the room at 3:07 a.m.

On March 17, a laboratory report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement advised that the sexual assault kit matched Irby’s DNA profile, and a warrant for Irby’s arrest was issued on April 10.

Irby has been charged with sexual battery. He has juvenile convictions between 2002 and 2009, eight adult felony convictions (one violent), and eight adult misdemeanor convictions (three violent); he has served five state prison sentences, with his most recent release in August 2023. Judge Gloria Walker ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial.

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.