Homeless man arrested for threatening man with knife at GRACE Marketplace

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ernest Kaiser, 66, was arrested yesterday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly threatening another man with a knife in a bathroom at GRACE Marketplace.

At about 6:40 p.m., a Gainesville Police Department Officer responded to GRACE Marketplace (3055 NE 28th Dr.), where the victim said he saw Kaiser carrying a knife in the bathroom. The victim said he told Kaiser that wasn’t funny and that Kaiser responded by saying he would slit his throat and send the victim to the sharks.

Post Miranda, Kaiser reportedly admitting to having a knife and trying to scare someone.

Kaiser was arrested on the aggravated assault charge and also booked on a warrant for failure to appear at a hearing for a 2023 charge of driving without a valid license. Kaiser has been in Alachua County for 30 years. He has nine felony convictions (one violent) and 13 misdemeanor convictions (none violent), along with an unspecified number of out-of-state convictions between 1974 and 2014 He has served five state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2003. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $52,000.

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.