Pair arrested with stolen guns

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Eric Denard Ricks, Jr., 20, and Donkaylous Quashod Taylor, 18, were arrested last night after officers found pistols near where they had been sitting.

Gainesville Police Department officers responded to a call from Woodland Park Apartments at about 8:40 p.m. last night regarding a group of people brandishing firearms.

When the officers arrived, they reportedly saw four men running up the stairs to the third floor, where they sat on the stairwell. The officers made contact with the four men and told them the reason for the officers’ presence was that they were described as having firearms, but the four said they did not have any guns. They were patted down and released when no weapons were found.

After the men left, the officers walked up to the third floor and found a trash bag with four pistols inside, apparently hidden by the men. The officers went toward where the men had last been seen and detained Ricks and Taylor.

The officers found that at least two of the guns, a Ruger-57 and a Springfield XD-9, were reported stolen.

Ricks allegedly provided a false name to the officers and only provided his real name about an hour into the investigation. Post Miranda, Ricks reportedly identified the Springfield as the gun he’d had in his possession and said he carried the gun for his protection. Ricks has been charged with grand theft of a firearm, tampering with evidence, carrying a concealed firearm without a permit, giving a false name to law enforcement, and resisting arrest. Local court records show two misdemeanor convictions for driving without a valid license, but arrest reports note that he has a juvenile conviction for grand theft of a motor vehicle and is on probation for burglary; he is being held on $80,000 bail.

Ricks was also arrested in March when gunshot residue was found on his hands after he was shot on E. University Avenue. He was charged with possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent and tampering with evidence, but the gun was not found, and he was released after 40 days elapsed with no formal charges being filed. The charges were dropped the same day he was released.

Post Miranda, Taylor reportedly identified the Ruger as the gun he’d had in his possession. Taylor has a juvenile history and was arrested in March for grand theft of a firearm, tampering with evidence, and loitering after an officer found a discarded gun in his path and reportedly matched it to a gun in a picture on Taylor’s Instagram account, but the charges were dropped when formal charges were not filed within 40 days. Taylor has been charged with grand theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and tampering with evidence. He is being held on $80,000 bail.

The arrest reports do not identify the other two men or note whether the remaining two firearms were stolen.

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.