Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Edward Luke Chappel, 45, of Atlanta, was arrested yesterday after allegedly persuading a locksmith to change the locks on a rental house that he claimed to have purchased.

At about 5:12 p.m. on August 18, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a home near the intersection of SW 17th Avenue and SW 91st Street, ,found a small U-Haul in the driveway and spoke to Chappel, who reportedly said he had just bought the property and that his realtor had just left after letting him in. Chappel reportedly showed deputies a Vacant Land Contract from a real estate brokerage that showed he had purchased the property on July 28.

The owner of the property reportedly told deputies that the real estate company has the property listed for rent, but it is not for sale and nobody had permission to be there. The owner said he had surveillance video showing Chappel and another male damaging the garage door to gain entry to the home. The owner sent the photos to a deputy, and Chappel reportedly said the other male was his realtor; however, the deputy noted that the “realtor’s” shirt had a logo for a locksmith.

A deputy contacted the locksmith and verified that the company had sent an employee to the home earlier in the day. The locksmith said Chappel had called to say he had just leased the property and had locked himself out; when he was told he would need to provide a copy of the lease, Chappel reportedly told the company it was at his office. The locksmith said Chappel called back later, said he had the lease, and asked someone to come out to the house. Employees went to the house, verified that the name on the contract matched Chappel’s Delaware driver’s license, and changed the locks to the garage door of the home. The locksmith said the company’s employees felt strange about the situation, so they took pictures of the U-Haul truck “in case something happened.”

The real estate company reportedly said the document showed them as the escrow company, but they do not execute their own escrow transactions and do not have an agent with the name on the document. When told that the signature was a “scribble and illegible,” they said they have a firm policy that all agents must sign legibly. The company also confirmed that it had no active or inactive accounts for that address; when the deputy said there was a current rental contract with the company for the property, the company’s representative said that would be through their management agency that handles rentals, but there were no contracts for the sale of that property.

The deputy concluded that Chappel lied to the locksmith and deputies to gain entry into the home, damaging it in the process of changing the locks, and had false documents that showed him as the owner of the property so that he could “live in [it] as if his own.”

Chappel, whose listed address is in Atlanta, has been charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and property damage under $200. Chappel, who told court representatives that he owns a security agency, has no criminal history. Judge Aymer “Buck” Curtin set bail at $10,000.

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.