Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tommy James Rieders, 48, was arrested yesterday for DUI, hit and run, and battery on an officer, and then he was later charged with property damage after allegedly breaking a light at the jail.

At about 12:19 p.m. on August 13, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a car accident where the witness reportedly said she had been stopped at a red light at the intersection of NW 3rd Avenue and NW 13th Street when a man traveling southbound on NW 13th Street turned into her and hit the driver’s side of her car, injuring her back seat passenger. She said the driver got out, gave her a business card, and kept saying, “I gotta go.” She said the driver dropped a white pill, and the officer reported that the pill causes drowsiness and has a warning that it should not be taken while driving a car. The witness took a video of the driver’s tag as he drove away.

The officer called Rieders and reported that he had slow and slurred speech; he said Rieders told him he had been told he was in a car accident, but he didn’t remember anything about it.

The officer went to Rieders’s address and reported that the front gate was damaged as if someone had rammed it with a vehicle, and there was a bumper on the ground nearby; there was also a vehicle in the driveway with damage to the front end. The officer reported that Rieders was swaying and slurring his words, and he believed Rieders was intoxicated.

Rieders reportedly said he had taken several different types of medication, and an EMT said those medications would make him “loopy and he shouldn’t be driving.”

Post Miranda, Rieders reportedly said he had not had any alcoholic beverages.

The officer reported that Rieders performed poorly on field sobriety exercises and refused to submit to a breath test.

While another officer was trying to administer the breath test, Rieders allegedly became “hostile and aggressive” and deliberately kicked the arresting officer several times. Rieders reportedly said he thought he should be able to hurt the officer because the officer was hurting him.

At about 1:17 a.m., Rieders allegedly tried to pull a camera off the wall of his cell, and when he realized it would not move, he pulled down a ceiling light, leaving the wires exposed and requiring staff to shut down the cell until it could be repaired. The incident was reportedly captured on surveillance footage.

Rieders has been charged with leaving a crash involving injury, leaving a crash involving property damage, battery on a law enforcement officer, driving under the influence, and property damage under $200. He has no criminal history, and Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $120,000 and ordered a mental health evaluation.

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.