Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jean Carlos De La Cruz Rivera, 23, was arrested yesterday and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for allegedly stabbing a man in the abdomen last June at The Lab (18 W. University Ave.)

At about 12:48 a.m. on June 25, 2023, citizens flagged down Gainesville Police Department Officers and said a stabbing had just occurred at The Lab.

The victim said he had exchanged words with a man, later identified as De La Cruz Rivera, near the exit and had been stabbed in the abdomen. The victim’s wife also provided a description of the suspect. Another witness provided a description of the suspect and said the suspect had said, “I’ll kill you”; that witness also identified the weapon as a Corona beer bottle.

The officer reported that the victim suffered two “large significant lacerations” to his abdomen, as well as lacerations on the top of his head and his left arm.

The victim later told an officer that an anonymous source had given him the name of the suspect, along with a photo. The officer used a law enforcement database to identify De La Cruz Rivera as the suspect, and the victim’s wife positively identified De La Cruz Rivera as the suspect.

An officer met with De La Cruz Rivera at his home on October 12, and De La Cruz Rivera reportedly said he often goes to The Lab and that he remembered the night of June 25. He said he was trying to let some friends into the bar but was confronted by the victim; they exchanged words, and the fight became physical. He denied stabbing the victim and said he did not have anything in his hands during the fight. He said he was drinking a Corona beer that night.

The sworn complaint notes that as officers left his home, De La Cruz Rivera asked, “How many years am I going to spend in jail?”

The second witness reportedly identified De La Cruz Rivera as the suspect on November 29, and a sworn complaint was filed on December 4. Judge David Kreider issued a warrant for De La Cruz Rivera’s arrest on March 14, with a recommended bail of $50,000.

De La Cruz Rivera has no criminal convictions. Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial.

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.