Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – David Angelo Lunedei Jr., 44, was arrested yesterday morning and charged with burglary of two cars, theft of a laptop and mobile hotspot, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

At about 7:35 a.m. on September 18, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a call from a witness in the 1200 block of W. University Avenue about a man opening the door of a car and rummaging through it.

The witness watched the man until the officer arrived and made contact with Lunedei at the intersection of University Avenue and NW 13th Street.

The victim said nothing was missing from her vehicle, but she wanted to press charges for unlawfully entering her vehicle.

Post Miranda, Lunedei reportedly admitted that he went into the vehicle to look for cigarettes, and when he didn’t find any, he stopped looking and went away.

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced a glass pipe, typically used to smoke crack cocaine, and Lunedei reportedly admitted using it to smoke “crack.”

Lunedei reportedly had a shopping cart filled with items, including a laptop and mobile hotspot that both had “UF Foundation” stickers. The UF Foundation reported that those items were assigned to an employee, and the employee reportedly told the officer that on the previous day at about 5 p.m., he had parked his car near the intersection of University Avenue and Main Street. When he came back to his car at about 6:45 p.m., his jacket was on the ground outside his car, but he assumed he had accidentally dropped it as he got out of his car.

The officer asked the employee to check his car, and the employee found that the laptop and mobile hotspot had been stolen, along with a backpack, other chargers, and miscellaneous items worth a total of about $90. The laptop is reportedly worth about $800, and the hotspot is worth about $150.

Post Miranda, Lunedei reportedly admitted that he had taken a backpack from a vehicle downtown the previous day. He said he dumped out the items he could not sell and kept the laptop and mobile hotspot; he provided an approximate location for the other items, but the arrest report did not state whether they were found.

Lunedei, whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has been charged with two counts of unarmed burglary of a vehicle, grand theft, theft, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has one felony conviction (non-violent), and Judge Jonathan Ramsey set bail at $30,000 on the charges.

Lunedei was arrested in March 2024 for throwing a rock through the window of a Santa Fe College property and was initially charged with property damage over $200 and property damage over $1,000. He was released on his own recognizance to Court Services for contact supervision, but a warrant for his arrest was issued eight days later because he never contacted Court Services after his release. He was re-arrested in May 2024, and on May 30, he entered a plea of nolo contendere to property damage over $1,000. Judge James Colaw ordered adjudication of guilt withheld and sentenced him to nine months in jail with credit for 25 days served, along with nine months of administrative probation that auto-terminated when he was released from jail. His probation was successfully terminated on December 15, 2024.

On July 20, 2025, Lunedei was detained for pulling door handles on cars in the 1300 block of W. University Avenue, and the police officer reportedly found a gram of crack cocaine in his possession. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The case was assigned to Drug Court, and Lunedei signed a Drug Court covenant on September 10 in which the State Attorney’s office agreed to dismiss the charges if he abided by the agreement for 12 months. He was released on September 15 and transported to a residential treatment facility, but he left the facility the next day and did not contact Court Services, so a warrant for his arrest was issued on September 18.

On top of the new charges above, Lunedei will now be prosecuted for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and Judge Jonathan Ramsey set bail of $20,000 on those charges.

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.