Man claims “complete amnesia” after arrest for burglarizing vehicle and using garage door opener to enter occupied home

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Reid William Crosby, 34, was arrested yesterday after allegedly burglarizing a vehicle, taking the garage door opener, and entering a home, where the owner confronted him at gunpoint. He reportedly fled but was identified after his mother went to the victim’s house, saying Crosby’s phone was pinging there.

At about 4:20 a.m. on December 30, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a home near the shopping center at NW 39th Avenue and NW 13th Street, where the owner said he was asleep in his bedroom when he woke up because he heard sounds in the house and then saw a light in the kitchen. Since he should have been alone in the home, the victim grabbed a pistol and went to the kitchen, where he found a man he didn’t know.

The victim said he asked the man who he was, why he was in the house, and how he got into the house; he said the man was holding a hammer and had a rubber glove and rags that had been taken from the victim’s garage, but he put the hammer down when he saw the gun. The victim said the man told him he had no idea what he was doing in the house or where he was, but he was running from someone who had threatened him.

The victim escorted the man at gunpoint into the garage and found the garage door open; he said the man repeated his story about running from someone, and he asked the victim to call the police. The victim went back into his home, locking the door behind him, and called 911. While he was inside, the man left, and the responding officers did not locate him.

Officers determined that the man had burglarized the victim’s vehicle, which was parked outside the garage and had inadvertently been left unlocked. When the man entered the vehicle, he took items from the center console and the glove compartment and put them on the seats; the paneling below the steering wheel had also been removed in an apparent attempt to start the vehicle. However, the man apparently found the garage door opener, used it to open the garage door, and entered the house through a door inside the garage. The victim demonstrated to an officer that his garage door is unusually quiet, which is why he didn’t wake up when the garage door opened.

Officers determined that the man had gone through numerous drawers and cabinets in the garage, eventually picking up a hammer, a glove, and rags. The victim showed officers where cabinets and drawers were left open.

Later on the morning of December 30, Crosby’s mother showed up at the victim’s house and said her son’s phone was pinging in the back yard; the victim reported that an e-bike, backpack, and phone were found in his back yard and Crosby’s mother apologized for her son’s actions.

Later in the day, Crosby reportedly returned to the victim’s home, the victim contacted law enforcement, and officers arrived and transported Crosby to GPD headquarters for questioning.

Post Miranda, Crosby reportedly admitted that he had entered the victim’s vehicle and home after leaving a nearby bar. He said he was threatened by two people at the bar and fled the bar on his e-bike, eventually ending up on the road leading to the victim’s home, where he “hid” from the people chasing him.

Crosby reportedly said he has a concussion and had blacked out during the incident. When he said he didn’t know whether he was still being chased when he got to the victim’s home, the officer pointed out that if he was comfortable enough to spend time searching the victim’s vehicle, he was clearly not “being chased.” The officer reported that Crosby blamed “complete amnesia” several times and said, “I don’t know why I made any of these decisions. There was an empty space. There was no thought.”

Regarding what he was looking for in the garage, Crosby reportedly said, “I don’t know what I was picking up or why… I didn’t know what I was looking for in his [vehicle]… I didn’t know why I was doing it, I had complete amnesia.” Crosby reportedly speculated that someone may have put something in his drink at the bar.

Crosby reportedly mentioned a lack of sleep, “amnesia,” and potential mental health problems as contributing factors and agreed that he needed a mental health evaluation. He said he had not committed a crime in a long time, could not explain why he had done it, and said again that he had “complete amnesia.” He said that when his mother spoke with the victim and then spoke with him, that “triggered his memory,” and he remembered more about the incident.

Crosby has been charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling and burglary of a vehicle. He has 14 felony convictions (non-violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (non-violent) but no convictions since 2012; he served a two-year state prison sentence for 14 counts of burglary and grand theft and was released in 2015. Judge Adam Lee set bail at $100,000 and ordered a mental health evaluation.

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.