Homeless man arrested for stealing boots worth $250
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Michael Gene Hunt, 36, was arrested yesterday after allegedly stealing a pair of boots priced at $249.99 from Boot Barn.
A Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a call from the store manager at Boot Barn, 3638 SW Archer Road, at about 1:23 p.m. on December 27. The manager said Hunt entered the store, grabbed a pair of boots, and ran from the store. A security camera near the front door reportedly caught a picture of the suspect.
The officer sent the picture to other officers, and two officers provided his identity; one officer said he’d had contact with Hunt earlier the same day. Hunt was arrested at 3501 SW Archer Road at 9:53 p.m. last night.
Hunt, who is described as homeless in court documents, has been charged with a third or subsequent offense of petit theft. He is a registered career offender who has two previous convictions for petit theft and served a 15-year prison sentence for attempted carjacking; he was released in August 2022. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $20,000.
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.
What does being labeled a career offender mean?
“Career offender” means any person who is designated as a habitual violent felony offender, a violent career criminal, or a three-time violent felony offender under s. 775.084 or as a prison releasee reoffender under s. 775.082(9).
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.261.html
In this guy’s case, it seems the label applies because he committed a burglary within three years of being released from prison.
I think it may be a little more than a burglary. He has had roughly 14 arrest in this county. His history includes a lot of violations of community control. God only knows what his juvenile history looks like. Anyway he has proved that he is not fut to live among the public and needs to spend a lot more time in prison
A search of the FDLE COAST (Career Offender Application for Statewide Tracking) shows him as a “Prison Releasee Reoffender” as of December 2, 2022, following his August 2022 release from prison for carjacking.
Prior to that designation in December 2022, records show he was arrested in Orlando, on October 21, 2022, for possession of MDMA. His probation for the carjacking prison sentence was violated and he was held. On November 7, 2022, while still in custody, he was served with a warrant out of Alachua County charging him with larceny (grand theft $300 to $5,000). In late January of 2023 he was sentenced in Alachua County to 260 days in jail with credit for 260 days served (though 260 days had not passed since October 21, nor since his release from prison).
Since his VOP charge came less than three months after he was released from prison, it stands to reason the only crimes he was charged with and/or convicted of between the time he was released from prison and the time he was labeled a Prison Releasee Reoffender were possession of a controlled substance, VOP incident to the possession charge, and, mysteriously, larceny. If you look at the conditions for being labeled a Prison Releasee Reoffender and therefore Career Offender, the only one that fits is the mysterious larceny charge, although there’s nothing in the charge suggesting the larceny also rose to burglary. There is no evidence of him having been convicted of additional violent felonies to classify him as a Career Offender under the other categories.
I noted what seems to be the case, given the facts available. What you think of the man, and what the man has been labeled under the law and why, are two entirely different matters.
Give that man a phone!
Why a phone , so he can sit around and play games all day
Boot strap theory
Bloody Hell. When will this stop? Wake up commissioners and do your damn job.
you want commissioners to guard the Boot Barn and tackle thiefs?
Send him to a Blue state, with a permanent zapping necklace (solar powered) if he crosses the state line again. As a plea deal.
Agreed bus to NewYork or Chicago
Shoeless man arrested for stealing boots worth $ WHOLESALE_PRICE
TODD. Go bail him out and take him home then. I’m sure he will appreciate it by stealing your stuff. Then you can try and replace it with wholesale prices.
If those boots were made for walking his sorry arse out of town they should let him go.
They can at least get him to Poe or Ward’s house I’m sure.