Homeless man arrested for threatening store clerk with gun

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Deangelo Antonio Smith, 30, was arrested late last night and charged with petit theft, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, drug possession, and resisting arrest after allegedly threatening a store clerk with a gun.

At about 8:50 p.m. last night, Smith allegedly took a case of beer from the Fast Track Exxon at 1633 SW 75th Street. A store clerk followed him out of the store and watched him go behind a dumpster and come out with a pizza box. As the clerk continued to follow him northbound on SW 75th Street, Smith allegedly opened the pizza box and showed the clerk a handgun, then said, “You’re too pretty, I’m not going to use it on you.” The clerk told a Gainesville Police Department officer that she was in fear for her life and stopped following Smith; she told the officer that he was pulling a cooler.

An Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the Holly Heights neighborhood to assist in locating Smith at about 9:25 p.m. and saw a man who matched the description of the suspect in the area of 500 SW 69th Street, pulling a cooler. The man, later identified as Smith, allegedly ran from the deputy and was subdued by a Taser.

A search of the cooler reportedly produced an open case of beer with several cans missing. A search incident to arrest reportedly produced MDPV, a controlled substance.

Smith, whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has a juvenile criminal history, five felony convictions (none violent), and 10 misdemeanor convictions (one violent). Judge Thomas Jaworski set bail at $195,000.

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.