Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kenyatta Bryant, 32, was arrested on Saturday and charged with grand theft after allegedly using a stolen credit card to purchase seven bikes from Chain Reaction.

On January 2, someone called the business from Bryant’s documented phone number and purchased two electric bikes for a total of $3,222.85. The bikes were later picked up, but the business owner reportedly said there was no surveillance video of the person picking up the bikes and nobody remembered who picked them up.

On January 4, someone called from a different phone number to purchase two more e-bikes, valued at $2,687.50, and used the same credit card that was used for the first two e-bikes. A man later came to the store to pick up the bikes.

On January 6, Bryant allegedly went to the business to purchase another e-bike, valued at $1,558.75, and used the same credit card. The owner reported that the person who picked it up was driving a white van, but he said the store was busy on both January 4 and January 6, so the store did not check the buyer’s identification before releasing the bikes.

After that purchase, the store owner began receiving notifications of chargebacks on the purchases for fraudulent credit card use.

On January 8, another phone purchase was made for two more e-bikes, valued at $3,599.98. The next day, Bryant allegedly went to Chain Reaction to pick up the bikes, and the store owner asked for Bryant’s identification because of the chargebacks. Bryant gave his ID to the store owner, but after the owner took a picture of the ID, Bryant reportedly grabbed it and ran out of the store. As he ran, he reportedly yelled, “I am only the driver.” The store owner said Bryant was driving the same white van, with a male passenger in the vehicle; he took a picture of the tag and reportedly said Bryant was the same person who had picked up the bikes on January 4 and purchased a bike in the store on January 6.

The stolen bikes are valued over $11,000; the report does not indicate whether any were recovered.

Bryant has been charged with grand theft over $5k and fraudulently obtaining property under $20k. He has three felony convictions (none violent) and five misdemeanor convictions (none violent) and has served two state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2016. He is on probation for driving without a valid license and has also been charged with violating probation. Judge Sheree Lancaster set bail at $40,000.

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.