St. Augustine man arrested for Gainesville carjacking

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Edward Dwayne Harris, 31, of St. Augustine, was arrested today and charged with carjacking with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The victim told a Gainesville Police Department Officer that she was driving in the 3300 block of NE 12th Street at 8:20 a.m. on October 26 when two men in a yellow pickup (later determined to be stolen) drove up behind her car and then pulled in front of her and abruptly stopped, forcing her to stop her vehicle. She reported that one man, later identified as Harris, got out of the passenger side of the pickup, armed with a revolver, and ran to the victim’s car, pulled the driver’s side door open, pointed the gun at the victim, and told her to get out of the vehicle. She said he pushed her out of the way, causing her to fall to the ground. She also said he tried unsuccessfully to take her cell phone.

Harris then allegedly got into the victim’s car and drove away at a high rate of speed, followed by the second man in the pickup truck. A short distance away, Harris reportedly ran over a speed bump at a high rate of speed and lost control of the car, crashing it into a telephone pole. He then reportedly got out of the victim’s car and got back into the pickup truck; investigators determined that the two men eventually drove to St. Johns County.

The second man, identified as Marcus Antwone Thomas, 28, was arrested several hours later by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office after they spotted the stolen pickup truck, but Harris reportedly fled. Thomas was charged with fleeing, driving on a suspended license, and reckless driving. Harris was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after deputies reportedly found a revolver in the truck that matched the description of the firearm used in the Gainesville carjacking.

On November 2, a GPD detective interviewed Thomas in the St. Johns County Jail. Post Miranda, he initially denied ever being in Gainesville but later reportedly confessed to driving the stolen yellow pickup truck to Gainesville. He reportedly said he had purchased the truck for $20 on the same morning they drove to Gainesville. He also reportedly admitted that he was driving the truck when Harris stole the vehicle in Gainesville. Thomas was reportedly hesitant to provide the identity of his co-defendant but eventually provided his name and a Facebook photo.

The detective viewed surveillance video from a Walmart in Jacksonville, where Thomas said the two men had stopped on October 26. The video showed a man with Thomas who matched the description provided by the victim.

Edwards has three felony convictions and has served two state prison terms; he was most recently released on June 25, 2022, after serving a 3-year sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Judge Walter Green set bail at $375,000.

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. 

  • No deterrent with prison time. No deterrent with multiple felonies and lying. He’ll be a constant threat to sane law abiding people. He’s a menace to society.

    We should never have gotten rid of the chain gang!

  • It was cold out, so they confessed. More notches in the belts of our esteemed law skool student loan debt lawyers.

  • Laws being obeyed by those criminals – again.

    Criminals coming to Gainesville, a sanctuary city – again.

    Just remember, this is the community you want to live and raise your families in.

    Protect yourselves if you’re able, leadership wants to expose you to more dangers.

  • I see so many people that complain about local politicians and their policies. If it’s THAT horrible why do you still live here? Surely you do well enough for yourself to be able to live anywhere you want. I mean, you wouldn’t be so judgemental of others if you and all the things you weren’t perfect. Would you? It seems like just as simple of a fix as voting the right politicians into office. Right? If we had more conservative local politicians we wouldn’t have ANY problems in Gainesville would we? As soon as they were sworn in Gainesville and all its people would immediately snap out of this liberal funk that we’re in right? I think it would be simpler for you to just move away. That’s just my opinion though.

    • I see you complaining about the comments. Why do you read them?
      Why do you read the Alachua Chronicle? Maybe you appreciate true, unfiltered news.
      Why do you condone such criminal activity because others object to it?

      You’re one of those people, that’s why.

      • I never said nor implied that I condone anything. I hope they throw him under the jail just like anyone with half a brain would. I never said there was anything wrong with objecting to crime or criminal behavior. I, myself, object to the same things. Why do you assume such things or fabricate facts to fit your narrative?

        You’re one of those people….. That is why

        Nothing that you said about me is actually true. It would look and sound really good to someone that ignored the facts though. I was genuinely curious why people would remain in a place that they disagreed with so much. I didn’t mean to trigger you. You could have maybe answered the question or offered some type of useful insight. Instead you plucked these assumptions out of thin air and fashioned them into a very feeble attack on someone you don’t even know. Why?

        You’re one of those people…. That is why

        • You must be a real meathead if you think people are going to move to a different part of the state rather than vote some crappy two-bit local politicians out of office. It’s a temporary problem. Gainesville hasn’t always been “ruled” by uppity woketards. Getting rid of Poe is a very good start. Maybe he’ll decide to stay in the Middle East and join the Palestinians. That would be perfect.

  • The comment above yours really doesn’t deserve a response but I’m sure pink floyd would appreciate it if you used a different screen name. I seriously doubt they would endorse such ignorant comments.

  • Believe it or not, I vote mostly republican. We probably vote for most of the same people. I just don’t operate the same way you do

  • “woketards”?…. Nevermind…. I see where this has gone. Good luck in life. It can’t be easy being so closed minded.

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