Man on probation charged with stealing car, Gators clothing, and laptop belonging to UF baseball players

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Javonte Charles Deon Irving, 30, was arrested yesterday for allegedly stealing a vehicle and some Gators clothing belonging to a UF baseball player; he was reportedly wearing the clothing when he was arrested later in the day for allegedly stealing a bottle of gin from Publix.

At about 1:32 a.m. on January 8, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report that a deputy’s vehicle had been burglarized; the suspect fled in a black Honda CR-V, and dispatchers issued an alert for law enforcement to watch for the Honda.

At about 2 a.m., Gainesville Police Department officers responded to a call about a suspicious person in the back yard of a home in the 3700 block of NW 16th Place; when officers arrived, that suspect also fled in a black Honda CR-V.

Officers made a note of the tag number and learned that it was registered to a 73-year-old man who lives in Palm Harbor. The owner of the CR-V said his grandson drives the vehicle and is a student at the University of Florida. Officers tried calling the grandson, but he did not answer. The University of Florida Police Department provided an address for the grandson.

When officers arrived at the grandson’s apartment at The Ridge at Gainesville (3718 SW 24th Avenue), they found a Range Rover with the door open and the contents in disarray. The owner of the Range Rover came outside, confirmed that his vehicle had been burglarized, and said that the keys to the CR-V, which is driven by his roommate, had been in the Range Rover. He said the CR-V was missing, along with an iPad and MacBook that had been in the Range Rover.

Officers tracked the iPad with the Find My app and found the CR-V in the 1700 block of NW 7th Street. The car was locked and the victim did not have a spare key, so the vehicle was towed. An inventory search of the CR-V reportedly produced the laptop and iPad.

A canvas of the neighborhood led to a security camera that showed a man parking the CR-V at about 3:49 a.m. In the video, he was wearing a Florida Gators hooded jacket, blue sweatpants, and blue and white Nike Shoes, and he was carrying a pair of slides.

The two victims are UF baseball players, and they had just been given the clothes, which are valued at $370, the previous day; the CR-V driver had left his clothes in his car.

At about noon on January 8, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to Marshalls (3965 Plaza Boulevard) after multiple people called in to report that someone was pulling on door handles in the Butler Plaza area; they reportedly detained Irving.

Meanwhile, a Publix Liquor store employee (3928 SW Archer Road) reported that security cameras showed a man concealing a 750 ml bottle of Seagram’s Extra Dry Gin (valued at $16.39) in his pants and leaving without paying for it.

When Irving was arrested, he reportedly still had the bottle of gin; he was also arrested on a warrant for violating probation in a 2023 case of grand theft of a motor vehicle.

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced the keys to the CR-V, and Irving was reportedly wearing a Florida Gators hooded sweatshirt, Florida Gators Nike shoes, and a Florida Gators hat, all marked on the tags with the uniform number of one of the baseball players.

Post Miranda, Irving reportedly declined to answer questions.

Irvin has been charged with burglary, grand theft, grand theft of a motor vehicle, petit theft, and shoplifting. He has four felony convictions (one sex offense, none violent) and five misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he is currently on probation for grand theft of a motor vehicle and has served two prison sentences, with his most recent release in December 2022.

Irving is a registered sex offender and is also facing a sworn complaint for inappropriately touching another client at the Meridian Lodge in early December; shortly after the complaint was filed, Irving moved from his last known address, and a warrant was issued for his arrest for absconding and committing a new crime. He has previously been diagnosed with mental illness and spent time in a state mental hospital before being declared competent to stand trial in his most recent case.

Judge Adam Lee ordered him held without bail for violating probation and set bail at $75,000 on the new charges; he also 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.