Man arrested after driving at high speed in stolen car, damaging two other vehicles

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Quentin Neatedrick Black, 22, was arrested yesterday evening after allegedly driving at high speeds along SW Williston Road in a stolen car. The stolen car crashed into two other cars, and the three occupants got out of the car and ran; Black was reportedly found hiding under a truck parked nearby.

The incident began around 4:15 p.m. yesterday when an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy’s license plate reader alerted him that a passing white Mercedes had been reported stolen. He followed the car on SW Williston Road from near the intersection with S. Main Street to the intersection with SW 23rd Street and reported that the driver was operating the vehicle in a reckless manner, passing cars on the shoulder and tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic. He also observed that the driver had short hair.

Near SW 23rd Street, the deputy turned on his lights and siren, and then the driver reportedly cut in between two cars and sped up to an estimated 80 mph in a 45 mph zone. The deputy discontinued the pursuit.

A few minutes later, there was a report that the Mercedes had crashed near the intersection of SW 34th Street and SW Williston Road, damaging two other vehicles, and that three people had fled from the crash. Deputies established a perimeter and began searching for the occupants of the vehicles.

A witness told a deputy that a man was lying under a pickup truck in a parking lot along SW 34th Street, and the man, later identified as Black, was ordered at gunpoint to come out from under the truck. Two juveniles were later caught hiding in a dumpster at the former Nationwide office campus.

Deputies reported that the juveniles said the “grown man” was driving and had picked them up in northeast Gainesville.

Black reportedly told deputies that the juveniles had picked him up, but the juveniles’ hairstyles did not match the hairstyle that the deputy had observed on the driver. The two juveniles are 16 years old, and Black has been charged with grand theft auto, fleeing law enforcement, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, driving without a valid license, and two counts of child abuse without great bodily harm. He was also issued three traffic citations.

Black has no criminal record; following a shooting at Cedar Ridge in May, the girlfriend of the victim identified him as the shooter and he was arrested and charged with attempted homicide, but the charge was later dropped. Two earlier drug possession charges were also dropped. His bond information is unavailable at this time.

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.