Homeless man arrested for hitting 9th-grader on RTS bus

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Joshuia Bernard Jenkins, 32, was arrested yesterday after allegedly hitting a ninth-grader on an RTS bus.

At about 5:35 p.m. yesterday, a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper responded to a call about a disturbance on an RTS bus near the intersection of Newberry Road and Tower Road. When the trooper arrived, Jenkins had already been detained by another trooper. The victim reportedly told the trooper he was sitting toward the back of the bus when Jenkins got on the bus; he said Jenkins moved toward the back of the bus and began talking to him and pushing his foot. The victim said he told Jenkins to leave him alone and that he is in ninth grade, but Jenkins allegedly continued to touch him, and then Jenkins hit him in the chest.

Two witnesses reportedly corroborated the victim’s account, and the incident was also captured on a video camera on the bus. Jenkins has been charged with cruelty to a child without great bodily harm.

Jenkins’ listed address is GRACE Marketplace; he has seven felony convictions and 13 misdemeanor convictions, with his most recent convictions in 2022. He has served two state prison sentences, with his most recent release in May 2021. Bail information is unavailable because the victim is a juvenile.

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 is the future of Gainesville under Ward & Co.’s leadership.

    Hope the liberal majority is happy.

    • Lol 😆 the yet another right winger who doesn’t see hypocrisy 🤣..especially with your name.. first off local government has no influence on state laws.. smh.. sooooo 2nd Tallahassee isn’t run by Dems.. soooo like you said you get what you vote 🗳 😏 for.. man you guys are just angry 😠 for no reason yet you blame the wrong people 😒

      • The problem is the continued operation of disGRACE Marketplace and all the other social programs here, DumbAss. Take away the caviar cat food and most cats will move on.

        • He’s a black racist and it’s the blame game…he needs blame his failure as a human being on others. A very negative person.
          He will see the light someday and love all gods children is what the real Jesus wants him to learn. What a pitiful existence to go through life carrying such hatted.

      • I am fairly sure the city of Gainesville and Alaucha County are responsible for all the low life in market place i believe you will find it’s fund by local tax dollars and not state

  • How much longer do we the taxpayer of Gainesville have to put up with these degenerate attacking citizens it’s time to hold the idiots of our city government accountable

  • Of course this is completely unacceptable behavior. But I want to know why the 9th grader was on the bus alone. I really hope the reason isn’t because there wasn’t a school bus to take them home and they had to ride RTS instead. I have seen middle school students lining up at RTS stops after school recently.

      • Not a helicopter mom at all and I know it’s totally normal and appropriate for a teenager to ride a bus alone. My point is IF the student was riding the bus because there wasn’t a school bus option then THAT’S a problem. The SBAC transportation department is a mess and they don’t pay their drivers enough and there aren’t enough drivers to cover the routes.

    • I used to walk to school by myself when I was in 3rd grade and crossed 2 busy streets. Children are not helpless.

      • I never said children were helpless nor did I imply they were. My point is, IF the student was riding the bus because there wasn’t a school bus option then THAT’S a problem. The SBAC transportation department is a mess and they don’t pay their drivers enough and there aren’t enough drivers to cover the routes.

    • A 9th grader ‘on a bus alone’? The present generation will never leave home at this rate.

      • Again, my point is IF the student was riding the bus because there wasn’t a school bus option then THAT’S a problem.

  • Not unusual at all for a ninth grader to ride the bus alone, I had to do it everyday from New Jersey to go to high school in Philly.

    • I never said it was unusual or implied it was. My point is IF the student was riding the bus because there wasn’t a school bus option then THAT’S a problem.

  • Our son rode that same bus home from school before he was old enough to drive. Never had a problem, but he was also a karate black belt. There were a lot of seedy homeless people on the busses, though. Sure made us nervous, but he insisted and we knew he could defend himself. The town is overrun with the homeless, many of whom have drug and psychological issues, making our families less safe. We should stop encouraging homeless people to come here.

  • Another in the continuing argument that Grace Marketplace needs to be bulldozed into the ground and the inhabitants put on a bus to other blue cities. Clean up Gainesvillecisco!!!

  • >