Man arrested for trying to break into neighbor’s apartment

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jason Lee Lynady, Jr., 18, was arrested yesterday and charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling and possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana after a resident of Sante Fe Oaks reported that she saw someone trying to enter her apartment through a window.

At about 4:45 p.m. on May 5, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to an apartment at Santa Fe Oaks (8203 NW 31st Ave.) about an attempted burglary. A witness told the deputy that she was in her bedroom when she heard her dogs barking; she walked to the living room and saw a gray glove sticking through the front window. She said she screamed and ran out the back door of the apartment, then walked around to the front of the apartment, where she saw a “mixed” male running away and took a picture with her phone. She described the suspect as light-skinned, possibly Hispanic, and possibly 18-19 years old. She said he was wearing orange pants, an orange jacket, white shoes, and gray gloves; she said he had curly black hair and was wearing an ankle monitor.

The deputy reported that the front window was fully open and the screen, slightly bent at one corner, was sitting on the ground in front of the window. Another resident of the apartment reportedly said the suspect lives in Santa Fe Oaks and that his name is Jason.

The deputy searched the juvenile detention list for anyone named Jason who lives in that apartment complex and only found Lynady, who lives just east of where the burglary occurred.

The deputy went to the apartment complex yesterday to make contact with Lynady and saw him walking near his apartment. When the deputy asked Lynady to speak to him, Lynady reportedly walked toward him, and the deputy reported that he immediately smelled marijuana. The deputy reported that he asked Lynady if he remembered where he was the previous Sunday, and Lynady said, “Yes, sir, I was over there” and pointed at the victim’s apartment. He reportedly added, “I told [the victim] I had did it, I did it.”

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced 21.8 grams of marijuana in Lynady’s hoodie pocket.

Post Miranda, Lynady reportedly said he had been walking around the neighborhood “smoking” on the morning of the incident when a friend told him the apartment was empty. He said that later in the day, he saw that the window was unlocked, and he opened it and tried to enter the apartment; when he put his head inside the apartment, he heard a dog barking and saw someone inside, so he got scared and ran away. When the deputy asked Lynady what he was wearing, Lynady reportedly responded, “Orange.”

Lynady has juvenile criminal convictions between 2021 and 2023; although the witness reportedly said he had an ankle monitor, he is not on probation, according to court documents and the State Attorney’s office. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $42,000.

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.