Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On May 6, authorities arrested Finley Johnson, 50, for possessing drug paraphernalia. He now faces felony shoplifting charges after a Butler Plaza security guard alerted police to his presence in the area, following the issuance of arrest warrants in Marion County.
Johnson is accused of stealing a case of beer and a pack of deli chicken from the Publix on SW Archer Road on May 1. According to a store manager, after leaving the store, Johnson attempted to flee on his bicycle. However, he didn’t get far before losing balance and dropping his stolen goods on the pavement. The impact caused one of the beer cans to burst, soaking the cardboard packaging. Several EMTs nearby offered assistance, but Johnson allegedly declined, collected the soggy beer case, and remounted his bicycle.
Unfortunately, his troubles didn’t end there. Johnson reportedly stumbled again, spilling beer cans from the drenched box. Determined, he gathered as many cans as he could before attempting to make his getaway once more.
In a final misstep, he fell yet again, this time abandoning the beer cans entirely as he pedaled away. Responding to the shoplifting report, a Butler Plaza security guard observed Johnson crossing SW Archer Road to a Circle K station and approached him for questioning.
The security guard asked for a patrol officer to pick up Johnson, but no officers were available at the time because of other active priority calls. The security guard took pictures of Johnson, wrote down his name, and released him when it was clear that no officers would be responding.
Because Johnson said he did not have identification on him, the security guard used facial recognition technology to confirm that the name he provided matched records in law enforcement databases.
A Gainesville Police Department detective learned that Johnson had active warrants out of Marion and Putnam counties, with statewide extradition, and he reported that the security guard said Johnson had recently “popped up” in the homeless areas around SW Archer Road and Butler Plaza; the detective noted that this happened right after the Marion County warrants were issued.
A bulletin was distributed to officers to watch for Johnson, and on May 6, a Butler Plaza security guard said Johnson was at a Quik Stop on SW 34th Street. A GPD patrol officer responded and arrested Johnson on the new charge and on the warrants.
A search incident to arrest reportedly produced needles and a burnt glass pipe, and post Miranda, Johnson reportedly said he used them to inject methamphetamines and smoke “weed.” He was identified with his Indiana driver’s license.
Johnson was booked on the shoplifting charge on May 26.
Johnson, whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has been charged with petit theft with two or more previous convictions (a felony) and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has five felony convictions (one violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (one violent), and he is on probation out of Marion County. He has an unspecified criminal history in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina between 1996 and 2025. He has two active out-of-state warrants, along with the Marion and Putnam County warrants and two active injunctions; he also has an unspecified federal criminal history between 1996 and 2001. Judge Adam Lee set bail at $50,000 on the drug paraphernalia charge, and Judge Meshon Rawls added $20,000 on the shoplifting charge.
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