VIDEO: Atlanta pair arrested in Alachua for stealing car and firearm

Staff report

ALACHUA, Fla. – Nathaniel Tramell Gates, 27, and Jada Jamil Kendrick, 22, both of Atlanta, were arrested on Sunday in Alachua after officers conducted a traffic stop on a stolen Audi A4.

At about 9:54 p.m. on May 17, an Alachua Police Department officer saw the stolen car leaving a gas station on U.S. Hwy 441 and activated his emergency lights, but the Audi drove around a second marked patrol vehicle with its emergency lights activated and accelerated onto I-75 northbound. The car accelerated at the end of the on-ramp but then slowed and pulled over.

Click here to watch APD’s video of the incident.

Gates got out of the vehicle, and on the body-worn camera video, he can be heard saying Kendrick is pregnant and they were on the way to the hospital; he added that it was his birthday (his birthday was on May 14, not May 17) and he had gotten a rental.

Kendrick then got out of the car and was detained; she was taken to an emergency room for medical clearance before being transported to the jail.

A search of the vehicle reportedly produced two Oxycodone Hydrochloride tablets in Gates’s wallet and a stolen Glock 23 pistol under the passenger seat.

Post Miranda, Gates reportedly said his fingerprints might be on the firearm because he had handed it to Kendrick.

Post Miranda, Kendrick reportedly admitted to taking the Audi against the will of the owner, and she said she was aware at the time that the owner’s Glock pistol was inside the vehicle.

Gates has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, grand theft of a motor vehicle, fleeing with emergency lights activated, and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He has felony convictions in Georgia and Texas and an active out-of-state warrant. Judge Joy Danne set bail at $35,000; he is still in the Alachua County Jail.

Kendrick has been charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and grand theft of a firearm. She has no criminal history, and Judge Danne set bail at $10,000; she posted bail and has been released from the jail.

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.