Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Demari Dennard Medley, 25, was arrested late last night and charged with burglary and grand theft over $100,000 after allegedly persuading a property manager to let him into an apartment and then stealing a safe containing $146,500 in cash. About $130,000 in cash is still missing.

A Gainesville Police Department officer responded yesterday afternoon to Campus Circle Apartments, where the victim reported that a safe and two pairs of shoes had been stolen from his apartment. The safe reportedly contained about $146,500 in cash and an Apple AirTag.

The officer’s investigation determined that the suspect had called the leasing office and pretended to be the victim, saying he had locked himself out of his apartment. An employee of the apartment complex met the suspect at the apartment and let him in. The employee reportedly identified the suspect as Medley in a photo line-up.

The AirTag’s last location update was at 4:30 p.m. at an apartment at Santa Fe Trace Apartments, 3310 NW 91st Street, so a search warrant was prepared for that apartment. While officers were waiting for the search warrant, an anonymous witness called to say he had just seen a black male in a gray hoodie with a safe on the side of the road in the 1300 block of NW 122nd Street. The witness said the black male was hitting the safe and trying to break it open, and when he drove up behind him, the black male jumped into the passenger seat of a Honda Pilot, which drove toward Newberry. The witness reportedly provided the tag number of the Honda.

Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies located the safe where the witness had seen the man, along with a stack of money totaling $16,130 and an Apple AirTag. Deputies also found the Honda at an address in Newberry that is given as Medley’s residence on his arrest report.

The owner of the Honda was detained, and Medley was reportedly found in the Newberry house and later detained.

According to the victim, $129,370 in cash is still missing.

Post Miranda, the owner of the Honda said he let Medley use his car, and when Medley later picked him up, he saw the safe and told Medley to get it out of his car. He said he pulled into Santa Fe Trace Apartments, but the owner of the apartment was not home (no further information was provided about this apartment or its residents in the arrest report). He said he drove to NW 122nd Street, where he watched Medley throw the safe into the woods. He said somebody drove up behind them, and Medley jumped into the passenger seat of his car.

Post Miranda, Medley said he had nothing to do with the incident and had not been in the Honda that day. Medley reportedly kept alluding to a video that would prove he was not involved, but the officer reported that Medley did not provide the video. The officer noted that Medley repeatedly said he did not want to be a snitch or a rat.

A search of the Newberry home reportedly yielded no cash, but the arrest report notes that Medley had over an hour to hide the cash before he was detained.

Medley has 10 felony convictions (none violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (none violent). He is on probation through the end of April 2024 for burglary, grand theft, and dealing in stolen property. On January 19, 2023, Medley asked for an early termination of his probation, writing, “I have made positive changes in my life. I’ve been employed multiple times since the incidents in my past. I bought my first car, got my first apartment to myself, I even got a football scholarship to play football at New Mexico Highlands University to further my academic and athletic career. An early termination of my probation would greatly assist me in moving forward with my life. My first step after my termination would be to get my charges expunged immediately. This would help me with better opportunities of employment.” Judge James Colaw denied the request. Medley is not listed on the 2023 football roster for New Mexico Highlands University.

Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered Medley held without bail “due to the alleged missing funds” and set bail at $200,000 once that issue is resolved.

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.