GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Cedrick Leroy Powell, 21, has been booked into the Alachua County Jail on allegations that he robbed and assaulted a 71-year-old Campus Walk resident while staying illegally in the man’s apartment in February.
Gainesville Police Department officers were called to Campus Walk Apartments, 914 SW 8th Avenue, at about 4:55 a.m. on February 3, 2026. They found the victim unconscious inside his apartment and transported him to a hospital. After regaining consciousness, the man told investigators he had been robbed.
The victim said he had spent about a week in the hospital before the incident. While he was away, four unidentified adults and a child began staying in his apartment. He said he did not report them because he did not want the child left outside in the cold. After being discharged, he withdrew cash from the bank to pay his rent and placed the money in his wallet.
According to the victim, he was watching television when one of the occupants, later identified as Powell, approached from behind and put him in a chokehold. The attacker allegedly demanded to know where the money was, took the victim’s wallet containing approximately $500, and continued pressing him for more cash.
The victim also reported that the attacker removed his oxygen, causing him to lose consciousness.
A roommate reportedly witnessed the robbery and told police that two of the men staying in the apartment went by the nicknames “Munchie” and “C2.”
Investigators located a 911 call made from the victim’s apartment while he was hospitalized. Although a woman placed the call, the phone was linked to Cedrick Powell’s account. Police determined that the woman was Powell’s sister and learned that Powell had been released from prison in December 2025. One of his known aliases is “C2.”
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Another witness said the occupants were awakened by a disturbance and went into the living room, where they found the victim unconscious. The witness knew the alleged attacker as “Ced” and said Ced and the woman were siblings. The witness also said Ced had recently been released from prison.
Campus Walk surveillance video reportedly captured the four adults staying in the victim’s apartment while he was hospitalized. Investigators positively identified Powell in the footage.
Powell faces charges of robbery and battery on a person older than 65. His complete criminal history was not attached to the First Appearance Order filed on the court website. However, Walton County records show convictions beginning in 2022, when he was 18, including grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, fleeing, misdemeanor drug offenses, and resisting an officer without violence. He served 17 months in prison and was released in December 2025. Powell was arrested in Walton County in March on the Alachua County warrant tied to the February case. He was also sentenced in April to 16 months in prison, with credit for 298 days served, for battery on a detainee. After that sentence ended on October 1, he was transferred to Alachua County to face the February charges.
Judge James Colaw wrote in the arrest warrant that the State Attorney’s Office planned to seek pretrial detention. Judge Meshon Rawls instead set Powell’s bail at $300,000.