Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Brandon George Ausherman, 31, of Dunnellon, has been charged in four burglary/theft cases; he was already in the Alachua County Jail after being arrested on April 9 after calls were received about a person in a mask pulling on bicycles at bike racks on the University of Florida campus.

Post Miranda, Ausherman reportedly said he was taking his bike from the rack, but he has no affiliation with the university, and the bike had previously been reported stolen. Ausherman was charged with loitering/prowling, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia, and bail was set at $4,500.

On April 4, a victim reported to Gainesville Police Department (GPD) that he had left his car parked in a parking garage at Theory Apartments, 1205 NW 5th Avenue, and came back to find his car door and trunk open. He said that three power tools, valued at $600, were stolen from the car. Surveillance video reportedly showed a white male wearing a “SLAY” hoodie, black hat, and black face mask. The suspect was also riding a bike that had been stolen from a nearby parking garage.

A second vehicle burglarized at Theory Apartments on April 4 was a BMW convertible; the suspect climbed in through a large cut in the soft top and broke open the glove compartment. The damage to the car is estimated at $5,000.

A third vehicle at Theory Apartments was a convertible Mustang; the victim’s driver’s license and credit cards were stolen in that burglary, and the damage to the car was estimated at $2,000. The stolen credit card was fraudulently used at three different locations, with $274.80 in confirmed fraudulent charges. One of the stores reportedly provided surveillance video showing a man wearing a “SLAY” hoodie, a black hat, and a black face mask.

Also on April 4, a victim reported to GPD that her bicycle was stolen from the locked bicycle storage area inside the locked parking garage at the Hub Apartments, 1258 NW 3rd Avenue. The gate requires a key fob for entry, but the report notes that key fobs have been stolen in vehicle burglaries in the area. The bicycle is the same one seen in the Theory Apartments video, and Ausherman was reportedly riding the same bike when he was arrested on campus.

The arrest reports note that over the past two weeks, the University of Florida Police Department (UFPD) and GPD responded to 22 different reports of vehicle burglaries, specifically soft-top convertibles, inside parking garages. In each case, the convertible top was cut, and the vehicles were entered through the top. The damage in the cases is estimated at over $60,000. Video from the various garages showed a suspect in a black “SLAY” hoodie or blue flannel jacket.

Ausherman reportedly refused to answer questions during a post-Miranda interview on the new charges at the jail, and he also reportedly refused to cooperate with the interview that is conducted before an inmate’s First Appearance, so it is unknown how long he has been in the area. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $75,000.

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.