Man on pre-trial release charged with nine felonies after allegedly throwing pistol and drugs from vehicle

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Quardarell Henry Robinson, 38, was arrested yesterday after allegedly throwing a pistol and drugs out of his pickup truck.

At about noon on February 23, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were conducting surveillance on Robinson’s apartment at The Reserve at Kanapaha (4440 SW Archer Road) and saw Robinson enter a pickup truck, holding a small black handbag. The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) Trooper who wrote up Robinson’s arrest report noted that the front windshield of the truck was completely tinted, and the tint on the side windows was darker than the legal amount.

A short time later, DEA agents followed the truck onto SW 41st Boulevard (Fred Bear Drive), where the truck reportedly traveled southbound at about 80 mph in a 45 mph zone. Agents followed Robinson at a distance until the truck turned into Fred Bear Archery (4600 SW 41st Blvd).

At about 1:02 p.m., an FHP Trooper saw the truck leaving Fred Bear Archery, initiated a felony traffic stop, and detained Robinson.

A witness reportedly came forward and said the truck drove through Bear Archery’s parking lot at a high rate of speed and then stopped at the back of the parking lot, near the edge of the woods, for a brief moment before heading back to the front of the parking lot. A search of that area reportedly produced a black Glock 22 with 10 rounds in the magazine.

An FHP K-9 team alerted to the presence of illegal drugs in the truck, but a search of the truck did not produce any illegal contraband. However, three cell phones were found, and they were taken into evidence.

Robinson participated in post-Miranda interviews with a DEA Agent and an FHP Trooper, but only the FHP interview was included on his arrest report. Post Miranda, Robinson reportedly denied any knowledge of the pistol and said he didn’t throw anything out of the window.

A witness who was parked on the west shoulder of Fred Bear Road, just north of Bear Archery, reportedly told a DEA Agent that he saw a black object fly out of the passenger side of a truck before the truck turned. The agent reportedly found a small black handbag in the ditch on the side of the road that appeared to be the same size as the bag agents saw when Robinson got into the truck.

A search of the bag reportedly produced about 44.9 grams of crack cocaine, 1.5 grams of cocaine, 21 small individual bags that totaled about 70 grams of marijuana, two industrial bags containing about 17.2 grams of suspected marijuana, four industrial bags containing about 20.2 grams of suspected marijuana, two gabapentin capsules, “numerous” empty baggies, and an electronic scale.

Surveillance video from Bear Archery reportedly showed the pickup truck approaching the wood line in the back of the parking lot, stopping briefly, and then driving back to the front of the parking lot. The trooper noted that the footage is “blurry due to being a good distance away, and the firearm cannot be seen being thrown from the [truck].”

The pistol will be sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for further testing.

Robinson has been charged with cocaine trafficking, two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, two counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, using or displaying a firearm during the commission of a felony (Judge Meshon Rawls found no probable cause for this charge), possession of drug paraphernalia used to distribute drugs, and tampering with evidence.

Robinson has a federal conviction out of Louisiana for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and served a 42-month federal prison sentence starting in 2017, followed by three years of federal probation. He has five misdemeanor convictions in Florida (non-violent), and he is on pre-trial release following an arrest in Levy County on drug charges. Judge Rawls set bail at $510,000 and ordered that if he is released, he must wear a GPS monitor and observe a curfew between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

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.