Staff Report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the early hours of the morning, Antonio Donnell Towns Jr., 24, found himself behind bars after being apprehended by authorities for possession of a substantial quantity of marijuana. The incident unfolded during a routine traffic stop conducted by a Gainesville Police Department officer, who discovered 125 grams of the substance.

The stop occurred around 2:30 a.m. on November 29. According to reports, Towns’ vehicle caught the officer’s attention after it crossed a solid white line and proceeded straight through an intersection from a left-turn-only lane. These traffic violations prompted the officer to initiate the stop.

Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer noted a conspicuous 2-gallon bag filled with marijuana visible on the rear floorboard. Coupled with this sight was the unmistakable strong scent of fresh marijuana wafting from the car, further arousing suspicion.

Towns, who was identified as both the driver and the registered owner of the vehicle, was unable to provide a medical marijuana card when requested by the officer. This absence of valid documentation led to his arrest on the spot.

A probable cause search of the vehicle, based on the improperly packaged marijuana in plain view, reportedly produced two jars of marijuana, two small baggies of marijuana, and a 2-gallon bag of marijuana, totaling 125.4 grams. The officer noted that none of the marijuana was in dispensary packaging.

The search also reportedly produced 0.2 grams of “Cannabis THC butter” in a dispensary container, 47 bills of mixed denominations totaling $293, a box of empty baggies, a scale, and two packs of rolling papers.

Post Miranda, Towns reportedly said all the marijuana belonged to him and admitted to smoking weed earlier in the day and smoking in the car. He said, however, that the cash was not his. He said all of the marijuana was for his personal use and denied any intent to sell it.

Towns reportedly said he had purchased the marijuana from a dispensary and moved it to plastic baggies so it would not stink up his car, but he could not explain why he had brought so much marijuana with him in his car. When he was asked which dispensary he purchased from, he reportedly refused to answer any more questions.

Towns has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a college campus (he was pulled over in the parking lot of UF’s east campus on Waldo Road), maintaining a vehicle for the purpose of selling drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has five felony convictions and one misdemeanor conviction; he has served one prison sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and unlawfully concealing a firearm and was released in April 2025, and he is on probation until April 2027. Judge Adam Lee set bail at $115,000 on the new charges and ordered him held without bail until the probation violation 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.