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Homeless man arrested for burglarizing Orange Heights home, shoving elderly man

Staff report

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Nathan Charles Homstad, 41, was arrested yesterday and charged with burglary of an occupied structure and aggravated battery on a person over 65 years of age.

At about 1 p.m. yesterday, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call about a suspicious person in the Orange Heights area. The victim said he heard somebody turning the knob to his back door, and when he looked at surveillance video from his screened-in back porch, he saw a man, later identified as Homstad, sitting in one of his chairs and listening to white headphones. The victim said he had never seen the man before.

The victim said he spoke through the camera’s speakers to try to get the man to leave, but the man did not respond and stayed on the porch. The victim finally armed himself out of concern for the safety of his wife and confronted Homstad. The victim told deputies that Homstad made an unintelligible statement and stayed in the chair for some time before finally standing up and pushing the victim. The victim followed Homstad off the property, and Homstad allegedly swung at the victim but missed. The victim is 79 years old.

Deputies found Homstad at the Shell gas station on U.S. Hwy 301, and he and his clothing matched the description provided by the victim, including the white headphones. Deputies viewed the surveillance video and noted that Homstad was not invited onto the property and did not leave when asked.

Post Miranda, Homstad did not make any statements; deputies reported that he kept his eyes closed and refused to move without assistance.

Homstad, who is described as homeless, was arrested in March for squatting in a vacant apartment and giving an officer a fake Norwegian name. He has an out-of-state criminal history and an active warrant from Minnesota. Formal charges were filed, and he was referred to mental health court but declined to participate. A psychological competency report was completed in July, and the charges were dropped on September 1.

Bail information is unavailable on weekends.

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. 

  • This dude looks like the Kryptonian soldier who fought with General Zod in the original “Superman.”
    Maybe that’s where we should put the growing homeless population causing problems in society – the Phantom Zone.
    If that’s not possible, either send him back to Minnesota or put him on either Poe or Ward’s front porch. Given Cornell’s recent motion, make that an option as well.

  • These drug addled bums are all around the university campus. I live close to UF and see this type of behavior often. City officials and police allow this. This is easy to stop…just enforce existing laws as was done in previous years. These addicts roam around like zombies harassing residents and students daily. UF police doesn’t put up with it by the way. Additionally, since the bums constantly canvas the areas around campus they know who to target and when..and also who not to target. The police are aware of this as well. Right now it is everyone for themselves in Gainesville

  • They printed the magic phrase, “charges dropped.” The 8th circuit SAO has gone down since Eugene Whitworth was its leader.
    Do these attorneys even prosecute cases or go into a courtroom anymore?
    But again, you get what you vote for.

    • I agree about the weakness of the SA but the same SA prosecutes crimes on UF campus and any crimes committed in the area all around UF. So why the difference of crime and vagrancy?
      The different is the actions of law enforcement. UF police actively does it job for the campus….Gainesville Police does what the local politicians tell them to do. Big difference.

  • Incompetent to stand trial but competent to be free to possibly harm others?State Attorney’s Office seems to be dropping quite a few of these types of cases. If he’s incompetent to stand trial and he kills someone; who’s to blame, SAO or him? Wonder if the same consideration would be given to a “victim” if they decided to drop the person committing a crime against them?
    If it’s my decision on who’s dropped, it won’t be a difficult one.

  • Earth to Nathan. Given a the fact you had a disciplined victim is probably the reason you do not have lead poisoning.

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