Sexual offender arrested after allegedly attacking woman in her home and setting fire in her garage

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Michael Allen Smith, 60, was arrested yesterday and charged with burglary, battery on a person over 65, false imprisonment, and arson after allegedly trying to break into a woman’s home, grabbing her inside her home, setting a fire in her garage, and dragging her from her back yard to her front yard.

At about 1:12 p.m. on October 15, the 66-year-old victim was gardening in her backyard in the 3700 block of NW 7th Avenue when Smith allegedly tried to enter her home through a back sliding glass door but found that the door was locked. Smith reportedly began screaming at the victim, causing her to run into the house through a different door. Smith allegedly pursued the victim into the house and grabbed her; she was able to free herself but lost sight of Smith and did not know whether he was still inside her home.

The victim said she heard “rumbling” noises coming from the garage, followed by an explosion; she ran to the garage and found that it had been set on fire. She said she ran to the back yard to grab a hose, sand, and a shovel to put out the fire, and Smith allegedly grabbed the shovel and used it to physically drag her to the front of the residence but released her when he heard sirens.

Smith was reportedly arrested a short time later when he got out of a Fire Department vehicle. His pants were reportedly scorched, and he appeared to have been burned by the fire; he also had injuries on his shins that were caused by the fire. A search incident to arrest reportedly produced two lighters in his pocket.

A Gainesville Police Department officer reported that Smith lit a gas can on fire with the purpose of setting the garage on fire while knowing the residence was occupied.

A witness told the officer that he was working outside near the home when he suddenly saw smoke coming from the victim’s garage and saw Smith dragging the victim to the front of the house with a shovel. He said the victim was screaming and that Smith eventually released the victim.

Smith reportedly made several spontaneous statements claiming that he was being shot at and said that he grabbed the victim to protect himself from the shots.

Post Miranda, Smith reportedly declined to speak about the charges; he kept saying, “That is not what happened” but would not talk about the incident.

Smith is a registered sexual offender who has 11 felony convictions (one violent); he has served six state prison sentences for cases out of Alachua and Hillsborough counties and was most recently released in August 2024 after serving a five-year sentence for failure to comply with sexual offender reporting requirements. Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered him 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.