Oxford Manor resident arrested after search warrant found items from multiple burglaries

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Decedrick Presley Jr., 21, was arrested on September 16 after Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers developed evidence that indicated he may have committed multiple burglaries.

On September 10, management from Oxford Manor Apartments reported that their leasing office had been burglarized overnight after they had inadvertently left the sliding glass door unlocked. The stolen items included two credit cards, two laptops, three surveillance cameras, and an iPad. The victims also reported that $2,086 in fraudulent charges had been applied to one of their accounts and $700 to another. They also reported that it was possible that the spare keys to some apartments had been stolen.

About nine hours later, Presley attempted to pawn the surveillance cameras at a pawn shop, but the pawnbroker suspected that the items were stolen and did not accept them. Presley later returned with the two laptops and the iPad and successfully pawned them with a different employee at the same pawn shop. He received $135 cash for the three items.

On September 15, officers asked a representative from Oxford Manor Apartments to inspect the pawned items, and she “perfectly described” and then identified the items. Both computers had been wiped, but they still had network settings for the Oxford Manor leasing office’s network.

The pawn shop employees were separately shown photo lineups, and both employees “quickly and confidently” picked Presley’s picture in each lineup. Both witnesses reported that Presley had frequently brought items to pawn over the previous three months. Presley also presented his identification card and thumbprint when items were pawned, making it easy to identify him.

On September 15, a search warrant was granted for Presley’s residence, also in Oxford Manor, and the warrant was executed on September 16. When officers arrived, they encountered Presley walking away from his apartment, and he was carrying a black satchel across his body. Presley reportedly informed officers that there was a firearm in the satchel, and a Taurus G2C 9mm handgun was found. Since Presley did not have a Concealed Weapons Permit, he was arrested for carrying a concealed firearm without a permit.

Just prior to the execution of the search warrant, one of the Oxford Manor employees contacted GPD again and said she had just realized that another laptop and some paperwork were missing from the leasing office.

Upon execution of the search warrant, officers found items that had been reported stolen in numerous other burglaries, including the third laptop and paperwork, a large fan with Oxford Manor markings on it, and a drawstring backpack that was missing from the leasing office.

Post Miranda, Presley admitted to having entered the leasing office through the sliding glass door but said it was because he had seen someone run out of it and drop a backpack as they were running. He admitted to entering, taking a soda from the refrigerator, and using the bathroom in the leasing office. He also admitted to picking up the backpack and taking it with him. He had no explanation for why he sold property from the leasing office to the pawn shop or why he had more missing property in his apartment, along with property from numerous other burglaries.

Another burglary related to the case happened on July 19, when an employee of Water & Air Research, Inc. parked his vehicle outside his apartment at Oxford Manor and returned about six hours later to find the front passenger door slightly ajar. He reported that two water meters were missing, valued at a total of about $3500. One of the water meters (matched by serial number) was located in Presley’s bedroom during the search.

On August 9, two residents of Oxford Manor returned from a trip out of town to find that a laptop, Nintendo Switch, guitar, guitar amplifier, guitar memory box, and other belongings had been stolen. After Presley was arrested, it was discovered that the amplifier and memory box had been sold to the pawn shop on August 16. The items were distinctive and were identified by the owner. Presley provided his identification card and thumbprint when pawning the items. The laptop was pawned on September 4 for $695. The Switch was pawned on September 9; the Switch was positively identified by the IP address connection history: both the owner’s and Presley’s WiFi networks appeared in the history.