Gainesville man charged with using axe to damage nearly $3k in items

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gerrard Larohn Moore, 51, was arrested yesterday and charged with property damage and resisting an officer after allegedly causing almost $3k in property damage with an axe while apparently intoxicated.

At about 12:54 p.m. on September 3, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report that Moore was “causing a disturbance and tearing things up” at a home in Maloré Gardens, off SW 13th Street.

The arresting deputy reported that he made contact with Moore in the driveway, and Moore was “highly agitated,” refused to identify himself, and kept walking up to deputies although he was told multiple times to keep his distance. The deputy noted that Moore smelled like alcohol and was obviously intoxicated, stumbling as he walked and looking for things to lean against.

Two witnesses reportedly said Moore was upset about a fight he’d had with his girlfriend at a different location and that when he came to the residence, he said he wanted his phone and started tearing up the home. Moore allegedly used a hand-held axe to damage two lamps, a microwave oven, an air fryer, a 60″ TV, a sliding glass door (shattered), a window on the front door (shattered), a sliding door screen, and window blinds, totaling an estimated $2,910; the deputy noted that there were also multiple holes in the wall that were not included in the estimate.

The witnesses also said Moore threatened them with the axe, saying he would harm them, but they did not want to file charges for aggravated assault.

Moore allegedly ignored multiple commands to keep his distance from deputies at the scene and to walk to the front of a patrol vehicle, causing deputies to use a taser to subdue him.

Moore has been charged with felony property damage and resisting an officer without violence. He has 15 felony convictions (seven violent) and 31 misdemeanor convictions (three violent) and has served six state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2020. He was recently released from the Alachua County Jail after serving a six-month sentence for violating release conditions on a domestic battery case. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $55,000.

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.