Homeless man charged with armed robbery

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Clayton Robert Shortes, 19, who was originally arrested in March for possession of ammunition by an adjudicated delinquent, has now been charged with armed robbery.

A Gainesville Police Department officer reported on March 25 that he made contact with Shortes in the 4400 block of SW 20th Avenue while responding to a disturbance at that location; he noted that he was aware at the time that Shortes was a suspect in an armed robbery investigation, and he knew there was a sworn complaint that was in the process of becoming a warrant for Shortes’s arrest. He wrote that he arrested Shortes “with the knowledge that other GPD officers established probable cause for his felony arrest for armed robbery.”

The officer reported that Shortes had a backpack at the time of his arrest, and a search of the backpack to ensure no contraband would be introduced into the jail produced a box containing 40 rounds of 22LR ammunition.

Post Miranda, Shortes reportedly said the ammunition was his and that he had purchased it from a gun shop in the past few days. He reportedly said he knew he was not supposed to own firearms until he was 24 years old because of his juvenile convictions, but he said he did not know he could not possess ammunition.

Shortes was charged with possession of ammunition by an adjudicated delinquent under the age of 24. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $100,000 in March, and Shortes has remained in the Alachua County Jail since then.

On July 29, a formal charge of armed robbery was filed, and a warrant was signed on August 4; Shortes was booked on the charge on August 5.

According to the sworn complaint, Shortes met the victim at a party on March 16, and the victim let Shortes borrow a Cartier watch that was valued at $60. About two hours later, the victim asked Shortes to return the watch, and Shortes allegedly pressed a handgun against the victim’s chest and said he would not return the watch.

The victim said another person reached out to him the next day and said Shortes wanted to return the watch, but the victim refused the offer and said the incident was unacceptable.

Shortes, who is described as homeless in court documents, told Court Services he had been in Alachua County for about two weeks at the time of his arrest in March. He has no adult convictions, but he has juvenile convictions out of Bradford County for grand theft and leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage.

Judge Joy Danne ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

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.