GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Joshuia Bernard Jenkins, 36, was arrested early this morning in connection with the alleged theft of 18 novelty lighters from a Gainesville smoke shop. He was released from the Alachua County Jail on September 30.
At approximately 2:50 a.m. on October 2, a Gainesville Police Department officer went to Smokeville Smoke Shop at 1122 W. University Avenue after an employee reported the alleged theft. According to the employee, Jenkins entered the store and began talking with him before taking 18 novelty lighters from a nearby display and heading toward the exit.
The employee said he yelled for Jenkins to stop, but Jenkins allegedly left the store with the lighters. Each lighter was valued at about $20, putting the shop’s reported loss at approximately $360.
Officers arrived several minutes later and reportedly located Jenkins near the business. He was allegedly carrying a brown bag with lighters visible through its open top.
Jenkins reportedly acknowledged entering the store but said the lighters had been given to him for free. When officers asked whether he had paid for the items, he allegedly said he had not.
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Jenkins, who court documents have described as homeless since at least 2023, was charged with felony petit theft, third or subsequent offense.
He was also arrested earlier this year, in April and July. Jenkins was found competent to stand trial on September 23 and released on September 30 after entering a nolo contendere plea to felony petit theft and property damage. The plea document stated that the charges carried a maximum sentence of six years in prison. Judge Denise Ferrero instead sentenced him to three months of community control, or house arrest, followed by one year of probation. Court records do not specify where Jenkins is expected to stay during community control. Since 2024, his arrest reports have listed an address at a home in the Bartram Woods subdivision near Royal Park. In a letter to a judge in July, Jenkins said he had stolen from Publix to help his grandmother pay rent, writing, “I will make sure… this doesn’t happen again.”
Jenkins has 11 felony convictions, including two for violent offenses, and 25 misdemeanor convictions, five of them violent. He has served two state prison sentences and was most recently released in 2021. He is currently on community control. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $20,000 on the new charges, and Jenkins has not been charged with violating probation.