Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jordan Caleb Pittman, 22, who was arrested yesterday and charged with a January 19 armed robbery at Mr. and Mrs. Crab, has also been charged with pulling a knife on the owner of Liquid Ginger after trying to walk out without paying for his meal. Pittman was arrested at the Midtown Piesano’s location after allegedly trying to walk out without paying; although a large knife was reportedly found in a search incident to arrest and a Piesano’s manager held him at the restaurant while waiting for police to arrive, Pittman reportedly did not pull the knife at Piesano’s.

At about 1:45 p.m. on January 25, the owner of Liquid Ginger reported that a man had walked out without paying his $58.53 bill. He said that when he confronted the man, the man brandished a knife and threatened to stab him; the owner told the responding Gainesville Police Department officer that he let the man go because he was in fear of being stabbed. The victim and a witness reportedly provided a detailed description of the suspect.

Later that day, Pittman allegedly tried to walk out without paying at Piesano’s; when he was arrested there, he was reportedly wearing the same clothing the suspect at Liquid Ginger had worn. The officer who had originally responded to Liquid Ginger went back to Liquid Ginger and conducted a photo line-up; the victim and witness at Liquid Ginger positively identified Pittman as the man who had pulled a knife.

Charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and defrauding the owner of a restaurant were added to the armed robbery charge from the January 19 incident at Mr. and Mrs. Crab.

Pittman, whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has been in the area for about three months. He has a juvenile criminal history between 2011 and 2020, one adult felony conviction (non-violent), and three misdemeanor convictions (none violent). He has served one state prison sentence for burglary out of Bradford County and was released in April 2023. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $17,000 on the new charges, in addition to the $50,000 bail set the previous day by Judge Thomas Jaworski.

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.