Starke man arrested after breaking into and damaging vacant rental property

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Maurice Marsalis Terry, 37, was arrested yesterday and charged with burglary and criminal mischief after a landlord reportedly found him in her rental property.

At about 8:25 a.m. yesterday, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to a vacant rental property in the 600 block of SW 2nd Terrace after the property owner went to meet a pest control company, opened the door, and saw a man inside the apartment.

The pest control employee told an officer that when the property owner opened the door, the man said, “Who are y’all?”

An officer reported that he could hear loud banging coming from inside the apartment and believed that the man was damaging property. The officers made contact with Terry at the front door, ordered him to come outside, and arrested him.

When the officer entered the apartment, he reported seeing pry marks on the front door and door latch, along with damage to the walls, a bathroom sink handle, and a broken toilet handle.

The property owner said she had been at the property a few days before and had not seen any damage at that time, but she estimated that the damage to the property yesterday came to about $800. She said she did not know Terry and had not given him permission to be in her apartment.

Terry was previously trespassed from the property on May 11, 2023.

Terry has two felony convictions (one violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (none violent). Last July, he was sentenced to 70 days in jail (with credit for 70 days served) after breaking into Lincoln Middle School, sitting in the break room, and refusing to leave. Judge Tatum Davis set bail at $140,000.

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.