Woman arrested for battery on an officer following bar fight

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ayranique Tainesha Thomas, 25, was arrested last night and charged with battery, battery on a law enforcement officer, and disorderly intoxication following a fight at a bar on her birthday.

A Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officer responded to a midtown bar just after midnight last night and attempted to de-escalate a fight. The officer reported that the owner of the bar said Thomas had consumed several shots, then had become loud and disruptive to other customers at the bar. The owner said he closed her tab and asked her to leave. While she was leaving, someone she knew showed up, and the two got into a fight on the patio.

Thomas allegedly spit on the victim several times and knocked chairs over. She reportedly picked up a chair to attack the victim, but a third party intervened. The officer arrived and tried to de-escalate the situation, but he reported that Thomas continued to be aggressive and continued to fight the victim. The officer placed her in handcuffs; the officer reported that while he was trying to put her in the back of his patrol car, she demanded to be removed from the patrol car and intentionally kicked the officer in the leg.

Thomas was previously arrested in 2020 and charged with kicking a GPD officer during the incident. She was charged with assault, resisting arrest with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer. The assault and battery on law enforcement charges were dropped, and she entered a plea of nolo contendere to a lesser charge of resisting arrest without violence, a misdemeanor, in exchange for a fine of $376; adjudication of guilt was withheld. Judge Walter Green signed the judgment.

She has been released from jail; bail information is unavailable on weekends.

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.