Homeless man arrested for punching and choking hotel employee
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Steven Johnathan Wilson, 34, was arrested yesterday morning after allegedly punching and choking a hotel employee who asked him to leave the premises.
At about 9:36 a.m. yesterday, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a call about a battery at the Baymont Inn at 6901 NW 4th Boulevard. The victim, a hotel employee, reportedly said that he had asked Wilson to leave the premises at about 9:20 a.m. because he was sleeping next to the building. Instead of leaving, the victim said, Wilson got up, went inside the hotel, and started making himself a waffle.
The victim said that when he again asked Wilson to leave, Wilson choked him and punched him multiple times. The deputy reported that surveillance video from the hotel clearly showed Wilson choking and punching the victim.
Wilson allegedly had two IDs in his possession when he was arrested, and both showed other people’s names.
Wilson, who is described as homeless in court documents, has been charged with felony battery and two counts of possession of other people’s identification cards. He has six felony convictions (one violent) and 11 misdemeanor convictions (none violent). He has served three state prison sentences and was last released in February 2023. He was arrested in Alachua County in September 2023 for burglary, battery, and robbery, but the charges were later dropped. Judge George Wright set bail at $15,000.
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.
The mayor and city council should be proud of how they have turned Gainesville in to a sh*t town we their open door policy with homeless and crime
Stop Feeding them drugs🤷♀️🙈
They go out of control because they are on drugs and are on the street, heat, cold and their brains don’t function right.
Yep….we are now a liberal sanctuary $hithole.
Asking you to name a conservitive town that doesn’t have crime $hithead.
It’s easier to name a conservative city that hasn’t declared itself a sanctuary city.
You obviously like what your kind has done to the place though. That’s sad, really, really sad.
Yes every city, town, or hole in the wall will have crime at some point and time. It is how the location deals with the criminal. Catch and release does not work. Never has never will. Intentional releasing criminals back on the streets without fear of confinement is unethical and criminal. Proper sentencing and confinement culls the criminal element as well as a law and order based community and government.
I challenge you to go to the interchange of I75 and hwy 90 in Columbia county and take a look. You will find a clean underpass, fenced off and no panhandlers. To deny that Alachua County is inviting these problem vagrants is wrong.
18 convictions and three prison sentences later and this guy is still on the streets. He then commits another felony and has the charges dropped. Once again law enforcement seems to holding up their obligations to the public by arrested and jailing an animal like this but the rest of the judicial process is failing Alachua County. Coupled with both the county and city commissions making homeless people feel welcome. There was a time where is county was rated as unfriendly to homeless people. Maybe we should strive to get back to the point again.
Unfriendly to homeless? What about the homeless who have ended up that way because of a death, illness, divorce, etc.?
The ones trying to just survive every day and need a little help to get back on their feet by their community?
Enough with grouping the homeless community together as one type of mentality!
Ok pay for him to go to California, New York, or Washington. They will be welcome there. You are right that several groups of homeless but due the open arm approach this county government has initiated and gas lights so much takes the light off the mentally ill, and people truly in need. If they were the only ones needing assistance that is manageable. The county and city have thrown criminal homeless and drug homelessness into the mix and that needs to be eliminated.
How much income tax do they pay on the panhandling money?
I thought Bidenomics job numbers looked great now? People can get 2 or 3 jobs, there’s so many!
Yes Lindsay those people need help. You realize that they represent a tiny portion of this homeless. Most have mental health and addiction problems. Most also see no problem be a jobless addict. Cheers and I hope you meet reality soon.
Ok Lindsay we get it. You are dating a homeless guy, we will lighten up.
Thx I was homeless for 342 days still worked and stayed strong…I would never go to grace and never gave up my address to say I’m homeless thank God I had a vehicle to shelter me
https://www.change.org/p/make-law-enforcement-fully-investigate-shots-fired-calls-to-911-dispatch
Just saying 🙏
Can you imagine having to put up with this as a customer service employee just trying to get by day by day?
Sorry to say it, but this is an example of why we would never now stay at a Baymont Inn or similar enterprise, Gainesville or elsewhere.
He needs to be released on Harvey Ward or Lauren Poe’s front porch and introduced to their families. They invited him, they and their families should have to house him and deal with any crimes and misdemeanors he brought.
If they don’t like it, put them on a train out of town. They’re a cancer to Gainesville.
Hotel victim should sue the DA, GRACE, and commissioners for trafficking and racketeering.
This is not about putting all homeless people in one basket.
There are those who suffer chronic mental illness that need MEDICAL supervision and medications.
There are those who are suffering from alcohol and substance abuse/addiction.
And, there are those who are situational/temporary homeless.
What we are talking about here is a VIOLENT homeless person harming an innocent human being.
The Gainesville City Commission made this problem worse when they setup a costly and oversized homeless center – Grace Marketplace – without requiring appropriate public safety rules – creating a MAGNET for people to come to here from all over the state and country to receive FREE taxpayer funded services – creating a public health and safety nightmare for our residents.
Why are they letting this loser free again? He needs to stay in jail for a long time. What a culture.