Staff report

WALDO, Fla. – Carter Wayne Cutter, 19, and Stephen Gabriel Medlock, 19, both of Gainesville, were arrested yesterday after allegedly taking a kayak without permission and damaging its seat; Cutter is also charged with intentionally hitting a woman in the leg with his vehicle.

At about 8:30 p.m. on June 19, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a home near the Waldo Canal Park boat ramp (14736 NE 152nd Street), where the victims said two men and a woman had arrived in a silver BMW and then got into a kayak that was sitting on the embankment and took it out onto the water. The victims said they yelled at the suspects, who came back to shore. The kayak’s owner told the deputy that he noticed the kayak’s seat was damaged, with an estimated repair cost of $60.

The owner of the kayak said he confronted one of the men, later identified as Cutter, about the theft and damage to the kayak, and Cutter punched him in the mouth; the deputy noted that the victim’s lip was noticeably bleeding. The kayak’s owner said he and four other neighbors got into a verbal argument and physical fight with the two men before Cutter got into the BMW and drove toward three of them who were standing in the roadway because of the fight and were not trying to block Cutter from leaving the area.

The kayak’s owner reported that Cutter narrowly missed hitting two of the victims but struck a woman’s leg. All five victims said they were in fear for their lives while Cutter was driving toward them.

A witness at the scene told the deputy that Medlock was one of the men in the video, and the deputy went to Medlock’s residence in the 7700 block of NE Waldo Road. Medlock allegedly resisted walking to the deputy’s patrol vehicle and resisted being searched incident to arrest.

While arresting Medlock, deputies saw Cutter in the residence; a witness reportedly identified him as the driver of the BMW.

Cutter has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery, theft, and property damage under $200. He has no criminal history; Judge Kristine Van Vorst set bail at $112,000.

Medlock has been charged with property damage under $200 with a previous conviction, theft with two or more previous convictions, and resisting an officer without violence. He has juvenile convictions spanning 2018 to 2025 and two adult misdemeanor convictions; Judge Van Vorst set bail at $14,000.

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.