Homeless man arrested for taking phone from Krispy Kreme employee

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Collin Lydal Battershell, 38, was arrested early this morning for allegedly taking a phone belonging to a Krispy Kreme employee.

At about 3:23 a.m. on September 22, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to Krispy Kreme (310 NW 13th Street), where an employee said she was cleaning the lobby when a man took her phone and left the business. She said she noticed her cell phone was gone as soon as the man left the business and called her phone from a co-worker’s phone; she said the man who answered said he would not bring the phone back.

Officers found Battershell a short time later at the Gate gas station (506 NW 13th Street).

Post Miranda, Battershell initially said he wanted a lawyer present, but after he was handcuffed, he reportedly said there had been a misunderstanding and he wanted to talk. An officer asked him again to waive his right to have a lawyer present, and he did. Battershell told the officer that he never had the phone, but then he reportedly said he had it and had “found” it inside Krispy Kreme. He said he got scared when it rang because the person who called said it was her phone and her parents worked for the government; he said he threw the phone and fled. He told the officer he did not think he should be arrested for theft because he no longer had the phone and the phone was “abandoned” when he picked it up.

The arrest report does not state whether the phone was found.

Battershell, whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has been charged with grand theft. He had two felony convictions (non-violent) and eight misdemeanor convictions (non-violent). Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $10,000.

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.