Homeless man arrested downtown after allegedly throwing glass bottles at cars
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Matthew Jesus Duffany, 47, was arrested early this morning after allegedly trespassing at V Pizza, dumping their trash cans, and throwing glass bottles onto the street and at cars, including throwing a bottle at a patrol car.
A Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a report that Duffany was violating a trespass order from V Pizza that had been issued on January 8. He allegedly returned to the business at about 3:20 a.m. this morning, emptied their trash cans onto the ground, and started throwing glass bottles into the street and at cars. An officer made contact with Duffany on the patio of V Pizza, and Duffany allegedly threw a glass bottle at a patrol car as it drove by, but missed. After being arrested, he allegedly tensed his body and refused to get into the patrol car.
Duffany has been charged with trespass after warning. He has 16 misdemeanor convictions and was last arrested on January 9 for trespass after warning at Havana’s Cigar and Wine. Following a Baker Act hearing, he was committed to a residential mental health treatment facility for 30 days. On February 8, a judge appointed an expert to determine whether Duffany is competent to stand trial. He was also arrested last October for squirting ketchup all over a restaurant while employees were trying to close up for the night, and he is still facing charges in that case.
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.
I bet it was cold outside on Jan 8 also. The jokes on him. He’ll be out before it warms up.
That’s a good one!
Just another fine outstanding citizen gainesville Welcome’s with open arms
Just another stupid comment from another mouthbreather.
Why you mad, that your Daddy?
He gross.
Motorists should hand out preprinted note cards with contact info of the GRACE Board of Directors members on them.
You all are pretty deplorable – this man is mentally ill – this I know for a fact and he need not be marshaled by a bunch of butt scratching internet jokers.
How did he get here / why is he here? That’s what we should be asking ourselves as we try to correct course so that more like him are not continuously arriving here in our nice little college town where we’ve already had the worst college campus serial killer in all of recorded human history.
He’s here because we have the Taj Mahal Grace Mkt providing amenities….if we had zero tolerance for panhandlers and vagrancy, it will go away.
STAND YOUR GROUND GNV!
Then put him in a place he can’t hurt anyone if he is mentally Ill as you say just a matter of time before he does or someone is going to fear for their life and put him down
Two words: bath salts.
He needs to take a bath alright…
Grace Marketplace should mandate that anyone who receives benefits there get haircuts & shave to receive benefits…they need to teach proper hygiene there so they can get jobs , etc.
Then send him to an understanding person’s address. Are you volunteering?
If your friends give up on you, and your family gives up on you, and the church gives up on you, then your just an A-hole…this guy is a filthy slob. Put him on a bus to DC
and let him set up camp by the Lincoln memorial.
You don’t scratch your ass?
If you know him so well why haven’t you open up your house to him give him a safe place to stay get him the treatment he needs make sure he get food every day the problem with people like you is you want to act like you care bash us who want them else where yet you will not welcome him into your home how about posting a picture of him at your dinner table or shut the hell up
Love how my last comment was blocked. Lmao I remember commenting on his last arrest, not only do you need to hide the ketchup you also have to hide your trash cans now. He needs to be locked up in a psych center because he’s on a mind trip he’ll never come back from.
Why wasn’t he at Grace Marketplace by sundown? It has all the amenities there to help him. It seems Grace is the problem because “build it and they will come”. Time to rethink the whole vagrant and climate change refugee plan. Zero tolerance for bad
Vagrant behavior…if you don’t report to Grace by sundown, then bus ticket out of town.
The jail should have barber services
Available for clients like this so they look good for first appearance. The judges should mandate this. Shave & a short haircut for first appearance…
No doo doo hair for first appearance…
The homeless issue needs to be cleaned up, starting with these median-beggars…. If they can stand there all day they should clean up their trash. I watch them stand there in filth but then when a cop is coming they act like they are trying to pick up cigg butts and fix it up.. This town is a joke
I think these comment sections are so inappropriate. None of us know any of these person’s history and have never walked in their shoes. It is never our place to judge anyone. Allowing these comments on this site is asking for rudeness and negativity. There is no reason for anyone to be commenting. It is so sad what is written about people going through hard times. Judging does not help anyone. Once a person has made a terrible mistake and received a felony conviction their life is over. Even after they have paid for their mistake it follows them for the rest of their lives. They will never be able to get a good job even if they have a college degree. That is wrong. If a person has paid the price given to them by the judge, they should not have to pay with their lives unless their crime hurt someone else. A lot of the people who get arrested do have mental problems that they need help for. They could recover or manage their issues if given a chance. I hope those of you that judge so harshly never end up on this page. In jail, you get no help or medication for health issues. No matter what your health issue is. They don’t care. In jail you are a piece of garbage and you don’t deserve anything good. Guilty until PROVEN innocent.
He’s just one of many mentally ill vagrants who have been a scourge on our town recently due to policies set in place by the local government. Lots of local businesses have closed down and people have lost their jobs/livelihoods. I don’t care how special of a snowflake he might be or whatever you are worried about. We need to make Gainesville NOT the place every schizophrenic hobo wishes to live in. You sound like another court jester who would be mayor, like Poe, Hanrahan, etc.
Justice? Dumping trash cans and throwing bottles at cars isn’t making much of an attempt to “better yourself.” There’s also no mention of him having a felony conviction. The court also ruled he was mentally competent to stand trial.
Just because you’re homeless doesn’t give you the right to infringe and/or endanger the rights and lives of others.
What a load of crap. He is personally responsible for where he’s at.
Well said, Justice!