Naked man arrested for attempted sexual battery in convenience store bathroom

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Malcolm L. Andrews, 55, was arrested last night and charged with attempted sexual battery on a minor, voyeurism, and indecent exposure after allegedly trying to enter a bathroom stall at Wawa, completely naked, with the intent of having sex with the teenage girl who was using the stall.

The victim, a juvenile, reportedly told a Gainesville Police Department officer that she was in a stall in the women’s bathroom at Wawa (1614 W. University Avenue) when she noticed a man with bare feet in the next stall and then realized there was a pile of neatly folded clothes at his feet. She said that when she looked up, she saw a man watching her over the stall divider.

The victim said she screamed, and then the man left his stall and tried to open her stall door, causing her to scream again. Her boyfriend and a store employee reportedly ran into the bathroom and pushed the man, later identified as Andrews, out of the bathroom. The victim said she had never seen Andrews before and had had no prior contact with him.

Advertisement

The victim’s boyfriend reportedly told the officer that he heard the victim scream and went into the bathroom with a store employee, where he saw a man standing in front of a stall, completely naked. The store employee reportedly said she saw the man trying to open the victim’s stall door.

Three other witnesses reported that they saw a man running away from the store, completely naked.

Officers reportedly found Andrews nearby, without any clothes on, and the store employee positively identified him as the man she had seen naked in the bathroom.

Andrews reportedly told an officer that he was supposed to meet up with a woman at the store to have sex and that he had believed the victim was the woman he was supposed to meet; he reportedly said he had intended to have sex with her. A search of Andrews’ belongings reportedly produced an unopened condom.

Post Miranda, Andrews reportedly said he had already explained what had happened and then declined to answer any more questions.

Although Andrews’ address is listed as Lenoir, NC, he has had contact with local law enforcement since 2018 and has an unspecified criminal history in North Carolina along with two local misdemeanor convictions (non-violent) and one local felony conviction (violent). He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2021 for threatening a man with a knife and was committed to a state mental hospital that year. He was found competent to proceed in February 2024 and entered a plea of nolo contendere to the charge. In March, Judge David Kreider sentenced him to 18 months in prison with credit for 18 months served, and he was released.

Judge David Kreider ordered Andrews held without bail, pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial.


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. 

25 Comments