Man arrested in connection with multiple scooter thefts
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
Johnnie Hamilton Long, 49, was arrested early this morning on three counts of grand theft after moped-type scooters were located in the woods near where he was staying.
Long’s listed address is at GRACE Marketplace, but Gainesville Police Department officers received anonymous tips that he was involved in scooter thefts and was staying in an apartment on SW 28th Terrace.
One scooter was reported stolen on March 23; that scooter was found in the woods north of The Enclave Apartments at 3000 SW 35th Place. An anonymous witness told a detective that Long had pushed that scooter and another scooter into the woods. Post Miranda, Long reportedly admitted to stealing the scooter. He allegedly said he had tried to work on the scooter at the apartment complex to “get it to run,” but when that didn’t work, he pushed it into the woods.
A second scooter was reported stolen on March 31; that scooter was found under a blanket in the back yard of the property where Long was reportedly staying. Post Miranda, Long reportedly confessed to knowing the scooter was stolen and that he assisted someone named “Mike” in stealing the scooter by pushing it away from the victim’s residence.
More stolen scooters were found on April 8 north of Gainesville Place Apartments, next to The Enclave. At that time, officers learned that Long may have been involved in the scooter thefts, so they located him at the SW 28th Terrace apartment, found the scooter in the back yard of that property, and arrested him.
In 2020, Long was arrested for allegedly taking the keys of a man eating near him at a McDonald’s and stealing and wrecking the man’s pickup truck. He was found guilty and sentenced to 14 months in prison. He was also charged with stealing a generator from Tractor Supply in 2019, but that charge was dropped for insufficient evidence.
Information on Long’s bail is not yet available.
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.
Who knew those scooters would get misplaced by misunderstood individuals? 🤔
Neck tattoo…you know what that means…—Grace Marketplace Taj Mahal…build it and they will come.
If we get rid of Grace Mkt, will that result in a decrease
In crime? —The army just clear-cut all that land across
From Grace at the Old Alachua County Fairgrounds
At 39th & Waldo road adjacent to the airport. I hear
It’s for their equipment…it looks like it could hold thousands army trucks & equipment… big enough to be a FEMA camp or a refugee camp too…
Damn! I was hoping they were the scooters littering the streets & sidewalks around downtown.
GRACE is nothing more than a holding area and fake address for miscreants who help the self-dealing circle jerk lawyers, judges and bail bondsman. The Phoenix and SWAG area apts. are like musical chairs for GRACE, too. Shut it down now. A college town has NO USE for them, other than donating their bodies to science at the UF med skool.