Homeless man on probation charged with felony shoplifting; security guard said he “popped up” in Gainesville after Marion County warrants were issued

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Finley Johnson, 50, was arrested on May 6 for possession of drug paraphernalia and has now been charged with felony shoplifting; a Butler Plaza security guard told police that he had “popped up” in the area after Marion County arrest warrants were issued.

On May 1, Johnson allegedly took a case of beer and a pack of deli chicken from Publix (3930 SW Archer Road) without paying; a Publix manager reported that Johnson left the store and got on his bicycle, but he fell off his bicycle before traveling very far and dropped the chicken and beer on the pavement. One of the beer cans exploded, soaking the cardboard case of beer. Several EMTs were nearby and tried to help Johnson, but he reportedly refused their assistance, picked up the wet cardboard case of beer, got back on his bike, and started riding away.

However, he fell off the bicycle again, and beer cans spilled out of the wet cardboard case; he reportedly picked up as many cans as he could and rode away again.

He fell off the bicycle a third time, dropping all of the beer cans, and rode away without picking them up. A Butler Plaza security guard, responding to a call about Johnson’s alleged shoplifting, watched him cross SW Archer Road to the Circle K station, where the security guard spoke with him.

The security guard asked for a patrol officer to pick up Johnson, but no officers were available at the time because of other active priority calls. The security guard took pictures of Johnson, wrote down his name, and released him when it was clear that no officers would be responding.

Because Johnson said he did not have identification on him, the security guard used facial recognition technology to confirm that the name he provided matched records in law enforcement databases.

A Gainesville Police Department detective learned that Johnson had active warrants out of Marion and Putnam counties, with statewide extradition, and he reported that the security guard said Johnson had recently “popped up” in the homeless areas around SW Archer Road and Butler Plaza; the detective noted that this happened right after the Marion County warrants were issued.

A bulletin was distributed to officers to watch for Johnson, and on May 6, a Butler Plaza security guard said Johnson was at a Quik Stop on SW 34th Street. A GPD patrol officer responded and arrested Johnson on the new charge and on the warrants.

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced needles and a burnt glass pipe, and post Miranda, Johnson reportedly said he used them to inject methamphetamines and smoke “weed.” He was identified with his Indiana driver’s license.

Johnson was booked on the shoplifting charge on May 26.

Johnson, whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has been charged with petit theft with two or more previous convictions (a felony) and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has five felony convictions (one violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (one violent), and he is on probation out of Marion County. He has an unspecified criminal history in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina between 1996 and 2025. He has two active out-of-state warrants, along with the Marion and Putnam County warrants and two active injunctions; he also has an unspecified federal criminal history between 1996 and 2001. Judge Adam Lee set bail at $50,000 on the drug paraphernalia charge, and Judge Meshon Rawls added $20,000 on the shoplifting charge.

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