Man on probation charged with stealing car from used car lot and prying open coin machines at car wash to steal quarters

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Austin Cordell Dees, 27, was arrested on April 19 for violating his probation sentence for burglary and has now been charged with stealing a car from a used car lot and prying open coin machines at a car wash to steal quarters.

The used car lot reported on April 12 that the vehicle, a 2013 BMW, was stolen from the lot sometime after April 8; an employee of the business had inadvertently left the keys in the vehicle, and a dealer tag was attached to the car. The owner of the car lot said the car was being worked on at the time, and he believed the car could not be driven far because of mechanical problems.

On April 15, the car was found abandoned on the side of the road in the 4100 block of NW 9th Street, but Gainesville Police Department (GPD) did not process the car at that time because the keys were missing and the vehicle was locked.

On April 19, Dees was arrested on a warrant for violating probation.

On April 24, a GPD officer learned that items left behind in the car belonged to Dees, including documents from his previous jail stay with his name on them, and interviewed Dees. Post Miranda, Dees reportedly admitted stealing the car because he was homeless and needed a place to stay. He said he had intended to return the vehicle, but it broke down. He acknowledged that he had left his belongings in the car and said the car was left on NW 9th Street because he was working at a nearby restaurant.

On April 15 and April 16, the Oasis Car Wash (402 NW 39th Avenue) was burglarized, and Dees was reportedly captured on security cameras; he allegedly used hand tools to pry open the coin machines and vacuums on both occasions and take the coins. The damage to the machines was estimated at $4,000, and the stolen coins from all the machines were worth approximately $150.

An officer interviewed Dees on April 29 about the burglaries, and post Miranda, Dees reportedly admitted to both incidents of burglary and the theft of quarters from the machines. When told that the damage to the machines was estimated at $4,000, Dees reportedly said, “For the little wall boxes?”

Dees is currently being held without bail until his probation case is resolved, and he has now been charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, three counts of burglary with property damage over $1,000 (the documents for the third case are missing from the court system), three counts of property damage over $1,000, and three counts of stealing from a coin-operated machine. He has a Notice to Appear for a shoplifting charge; the documents for that case are also missing from the court system. He has four felony convictions (two violent).

Dees was arrested in November 2024 for thefts from two businesses and a misdemeanor drug charge (eight felonies and four misdemeanors). In February, he entered a plea of nolo contendere to two burglary charges and was sentenced to 30 months of probation; the remaining charges were dropped. Less than a month after his release, a warrant for his arrest was issued because he had never reported to his probation officer.

Judge Phillip Pena set bail at $180,000 on the new charges.

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.