Homeless man arrested for kicking and dragging his mother by her hair
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Richard Francis Lawane, 35, was arrested yesterday and charged with battery on a person over 65 after allegedly kicking his mother and dragging her by her hair; he was arrested last October for a similar incident.
At about 5:42 p.m. on May 25, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to Taco Bell (7410 W. Newberry Road) after Lawane reportedly called a suicide hotline and said he wanted to hang himself. The deputy noted that Lawane lives with his mother in a tent behind the BP gas station across the street from the Taco Bell.
Lawane reportedly told the deputy he’d gotten into a physical fight with his mother a few hours earlier; he said she attacked him while he was sleeping, and he kicked her multiple times. He reportedly added that he has hit her multiple times in the past.
Post Miranda, Lawane repeated that he had kicked his mother multiple times.
Deputies went to the BP gas station to speak to the victim, and she said that when Lawane woke up from a nap, he sat up and started kicking her with his boots. A deputy noted that the victim had bruises on her arm that were consistent with being kicked. The victim said Lawane stood up, grabbed her by the hair, and started dragging her around the tent; she said Lawane had been physical with her a handful of times in the past few months.
Lawane was previously arrested on October 17, 2025, at the same location. In that incident, Lawane initially said he had been “jumped” by “vagabonds” and said they were “crackheads,” but then he changed his story and said his mother attacked him, but he did not want to “get her in trouble.” He said he was awakened by his mother “kicking” him in the face and that he had hit her to “get her off” him.
Lawane’s mother was reportedly found sleeping in the tent and appeared “frail and infirm”; she had a large bruise around one eye and bruises on her forehead and on the side of her head. She said Lawane had attacked her inside the tent. Lawane reportedly admitted to giving her “a shiner.”
The deputy who responded to that case reported that Lawane had scratches on his face, but they appeared to be consistent with defensive actions by the victim and not marks left by a shoe.
Lawane was charged with battery on a person over 65 in that case, but it can no longer be found in the court system.
Lawane has also been charged with battery on a person over 65 in the latest case. He told Court Services that he is homeless and has been in the area for four months, but he was arrested in the same area more than five months ago. He has no criminal convictions in Florida, but he has an unspecified criminal history in another state between 2017 and 2024. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $75,000.
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
To the editors: We seem to have a rash of cases that “can no longer be found in the court system.” Any ideas what’s going on with these records?
As far as I can tell, the charges get dropped and then expunged. It’s not uncommon for charges to be dropped in domestic violence cases when the victim stops cooperating.
Steve makes a good point.
Is this a local or state policy that any charges get erased from the criminal database?
The courts & judges need this data to see patterns even if charges are dropped!
…how many times is this guy going to beat his mother until he kills her?
In baseball⚾️, it’s 3 strikes and you’re out!
Now you know we can’t have these homeless no good bums walking around with a criminal history we can’t do that to find upstanding citizens
He must have missed this in Sunday School: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
It’s the first commandment with a promise.
Wonder if mom is second guessing herself or if a mother’s love forgives all?
What geniuses told them to come to a woke college town, where their “status” would be so welcomed by Dem NGOs driving their BMWs? And where’s the baby daddy, this guy’s father … is that another tragedy involving his helpless mother?
Somewhere in here is a Hollyweird script or Broadwoke play.
🤡🥺
Dang! He must have been a fan of the movie ‘Throw Momma from the Train’?
How does BP feel about having violent people camping on or near their property? I think their customers don’t want that.