Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Christell D. Williams, 59, was arrested early yesterday morning after allegedly setting up camp in a public park and refusing to leave.

On April 29, the City of Gainesville posted a notice at Lynch Park that the park would be closed on May 6 for renovations. On May 7, Gainesville Police Department officers went to Lynch Park (410 S. Main Street) and spoke with people who were still in the park and refusing to leave. An officer reportedly spoke to each one and told them they needed to leave the park and take their belongings. Williams reportedly refused to leave, and a sworn complaint was filed, charging her with resisting an officer without violence, engaging in acts prohibited in a City park, and trespassing in a park after hours. She was not booked into the jail, and no action has been taken on that sworn complaint.

At that time, the Community Resource Paramedicine program had been offering her services, including a bed at GRACE Marketplace, for several months, and Williams reportedly refused all services.

The park’s hours are dawn to dusk, and at about 5:15 a.m. on November 13, an officer reported that Williams had again set up camp within the Lynch Park boundaries. An officer asked her several times to leave voluntarily, but she allegedly refused to leave the park.

Post Miranda, Williams reportedly said she had to stand her ground.

Williams has been charged with resisting an officer without violence and violating park rules. She has one misdemeanor conviction from 1994, and she was found incompetent to stand trial after a 2010 arrest for simple battery. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $3,000 but ordered that she could be released to Mental Health Court if accepted by that program.

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.