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Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Authorities apprehended 40-year-old Kelvin Lee Pritchett late last night following accusations of forcibly entering a neighbor’s residence and assaulting her.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m. on March 1, officers from the Gainesville Police Department were dispatched to The Park apartment complex located at 3643 SW 20th Avenue. Several individuals had reported a disturbance involving a man yelling outside a woman’s apartment while aggressively attempting to breach the door. Upon arrival, the officer found Pritchett outside the apartment, covered in what was later identified as cooking oil, as he continued to kick at the door.
The resident recounted that Pritchett had been inside her apartment when an argument ensued. Attempting to end the confrontation, she asked him to leave. When he refused, she resorted to tossing his wallet outside and locking the door behind him. She armed herself with a pot containing hot cooking oil and moved to the kitchen as a precaution. Once Pritchett reportedly forced his way back in, he allegedly rushed into the kitchen and struck her in the face, prompting her to retaliate by dousing him with the oil. This action caused Pritchett to exit the apartment.
The officer observed that the resident had a noticeable cut and swelling on her face, consistent with her account of the incident.
The victim said Pritchett does not live at her apartment and does not have a key; she said he is only allowed inside with her consent, and she withdrew the consent when she told him to leave and locked the door behind him.
Post Miranda, Pritchett reportedly said he was asleep inside the apartment when he was attacked in bed. He said he was splashed with cooking oil during his argument with the victim, but he did not say anything about hitting her; he said he didn’t know how her face got injured. He reportedly admitted that the victim briefly locked him out of the apartment but said she eventually opened the door, and he pushed his way into the apartment while she pushed on the door, trying to close it.
Pritchett reportedly confirmed that he does not live at the victim’s apartment or have a key to the victim’s apartment and said he has his own apartment in the same complex. He denied kicking or breaking the door.
The officer noted that the door frame was broken to the point where the door can no longer be secured, and he reported that he saw Pritchett hitting and kicking the door when he arrived.
Pritchet has been charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling and domestic battery. He has two felony convictions and nine misdemeanor convictions and has served two state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2019. Judge Meshon Rawls ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.
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.