Pair arrested for breaking into Airbnb, staying several days, and stealing items

Staff report

Updated on June 3 with pre-trial detention information for Stephens.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Taylor Rose Marie Brown, 28, and John Lee Stephens Jr., 38, were arrested yesterday for allegedly breaking into an Airbnb, staying several days, and stealing items. (Brown is also known as Taylor Rose Marie, and both of her court cases are under that name in Alachua County court records.)

On May 27, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to the 1300 block of NE 7th Street, where a witness said he had seen a man and woman come out of the Airbnb; he said the woman walked up the street, wearing only a towel, before trying to give the witness a spray bottle she had taken out of the trash. The witness said he called because he thought the lack of a car and the woman’s behavior were abnormal.

The officer reportedly found Stephens inside the Airbnb, and Stephens reportedly said he was visiting his wife and she had walked away to go grocery shopping at Publix but would be back within 30 minutes. The officer reported that Stephens was unable to provide any documentation that he was authorized to be in the Airbnb.

The officer reported that a dog door at the rear of the home appeared to have been tampered with, and male clothing was strewn across the back yard, drying in the sun. Debit and credit cards belonging to Stephens were reportedly found in a bedroom, and the officer reported that lightbulbs had been removed and meals had been cooked; the officer noted that it appeared they had “made themselves at home.” Multiple lightbulbs were reportedly found in a backpack inside the home.

A person who cleans the home for the owner of the Airbnb arrived while the officer was there, and that person said that two closet doors had previously been bolted shut, but they had now been pried open; it also looked like cleaning items had been taken. That person estimated the damage to the doors, locks, and dog door at about $250.

The officer also noted that there was a Publix electric shopping cart in the back yard, and the manager of the Main Street Publix said the scooter was valued at about $1,200.

The owner of the Airbnb reportedly provided doorbell camera videos that showed both Brown and Stephens entering the home.

About an hour later, the same officer found Brown in the 500 block of NE 16th Avenue; a search incident to arrest reportedly produced a glass pipe consistent with devices used to smoke narcotics.

Post Miranda, Brown reportedly said she lived at the Airbnb, had a key, and was given permission by “you” to stay there; she said she had been there since Sunday, and she invited Stephens inside to “clean himself” on Monday. She said they had sexual intercourse, and when they were done, she asked Stephens to leave, but he refused; she said she asked him to wash a pair of her pants, but she did not give Stephens permission to do his own laundry. She said she asked Stephens again to leave, and when he refused, she left.

When asked who had broken the dog door, Brown initially said it broke when she slammed a door, but she changed her story and said Stephens probably did it, but she didn’t know for sure. She reportedly said she broke the locks to the two closets, and she found a spray bottle in one of the closets and tried to trade it with the witness for a vase she saw on his property. She said she had cooked meals in the Airbnb and said the lightbulbs were hers. She denied knowing anything about the Publix scooter and said she used the glass pipe to smoke some “ice.”

Brown, whose listed address is in Massachusetts, has been charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, grand theft, and possession of drug paraphernalia. She has three felony convictions (non-violent) and eight misdemeanor convictions (non-violent); she was arrested in January 2026 for refusing to leave a psychiatric hospital after she was discharged, and she was sentenced in February to 26 days in jail with credit for 26 days served. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $32,000.

Stephens has been charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft. He has two felony convictions (including one sexual offense) and four misdemeanor convictions (three violent); he is a registered sexual offender and has served three state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2022. He was arrested for false imprisonment and battery in 2023, but the charges were later dropped. Judge Rawls ordered him held without bail on the new charges, pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial. On June 1, Judge Robert Groeb granted the motion and ordered Stephens held 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