Man on probation charged with using 6-year-old child to help him shoplift and then leaving the child behind when he ran from the police

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Joshua Robert Spirit, 35, was arrested yesterday after allegedly taking his 6-year-old child to help him shoplift and then leaving the child unattended when he ran from police officers.

At about 4 p.m. on November 10, an employee at Ace Hardware (3727 W. University Avenue) reportedly saw Spirit placing merchandise in a bag held by his 6-year-old child while the child watched to see if anyone was coming. The employee said Spirit and the child left the store without paying for the merchandise, which was worth $199. As they were leaving, the employee tried to stop Spirit, but he allegedly walked away. The employee took a picture of the tag on Spirit’s car, and Spirit allegedly backed up into the employee and “tapped” him with his car; the employee called 911 as Spirit drove away.

A Gainesville Police Department officer made contact with Spirit outside his residence in Pine Ridge, and Spirit allegedly ran, leaving the child by herself. Another officer reportedly saw Spirit walking between apartments on NW 23rd Terrace and told him to stop, but Spirit allegedly climbed over an 8-foot concrete wall and hid under a parked car in the Walmart parking lot, where a third officer found him.

Spirit allegedly ran from the third officer and tried to go back over the wall, but the second officer was still on the other side, so he ran into the vestibule at Walmart where the shopping carts are kept. The third officer deployed his Taser, and the second officer climbed over the wall to assist with arresting Spirit inside Walmart.

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced a pocket knife.

Spirit has been charged with child abuse without great bodily harm, child neglect without great bodily harm, resisting recovery of property by a merchant, resisting an officer without violence, and theft. He has four felony convictions (non-violent); he served one prison sentence and was released in 2013. He was also booked on warrants for violating probation in a 2023 shoplifting case and failing to appear at a hearing in a domestic battery case. Judge Denise Ferrero set bail at $45,000 on the new charges and ordered him held without bail until the probation violation is resolved; the warrant in the shoplifting case had bail of $5,000.

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.