By Staff Reporter

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the early hours of this morning, Cecil Eugene Boykin, Jr., aged 40, was apprehended following allegations of breaking a window at an apartment in the Holly Heights neighborhood.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. on December 15, a deputy from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a reported residential burglary. The resident reported that a man she knew only as “Solo,” later identified as Boykin, had visited her apartment earlier in the evening.

The resident recounted that Boykin had been expressing his personal grievances, and when she indicated she was unwilling to listen, he departed. Shortly thereafter, she was startled by a loud noise emanating from the rear of her apartment. Upon investigation, she witnessed Boykin fleeing the scene. She discovered her back window shattered and an old table, previously abandoned in the bushes behind her home, broken into pieces. It appeared Boykin had used the table to smash the window, causing approximately $200 in damages.

A fellow occupant of the apartment provided corroborative testimony, stating that as he was preparing to sleep, he was jolted by a loud “bang” on his bedroom window. He reported hearing two additional bangs before the window shattered. He also heard a man shout from outside and recognized the voice as “Solo’s.”

The deputy reportedly found Boykin hiding in some bushes, and the victim reportedly identified him as “Solo.”

When Boykin was asked about the incident, he reportedly made multiple conflicting statements and said he had gone to the victim’s apartment because she called him for help.

Boykin has been charged with misdemeanor property damage. He is also facing a sworn complaint from an incident on November 13 in which he allegedly intentionally broke a window of a different victim’s residence before making a false report to 911 that someone had been shot; as a result of the false report, deputies abandoned the perimeter they had set to catch Boykin, which allowed him to get away.

Boykin has 11 felony convictions (one violent) and seven misdemeanor convictions (two violent) and is on pre-trial release following an arrest for methamphetamine possession in June 2024 during the investigation of a battery call. Boykin has served four state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2021. Judge Jonathan Ramsey set bail at $7,500 on the property damage 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.