Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Michael Joseph Buccino, Jr., 41, was arrested last night and charged with battery of a disabled person.

At about 8:33 p.m. on July 17, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to The Crossing at Santa Fe Apartments (3205 NW 83rd Street), where the victim said he had been sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, with one foot dangling out of the door, when Buccino ran across the street, got “loud,” and hit and kicked his vehicle. The victim said he told Buccino not to touch his vehicle, and Buccino pushed the vehicle’s door, hitting his shin. The victim is a disabled adult.

A witness reportedly showed deputies where Buccino was standing on a nearby balcony, and a deputy confirmed with the victim that Buccino was the man who battered him. A second witness reportedly saw Buccino close the vehicle’s door on the victim’s foot.

Post Miranda, Buccino reportedly did not want to answer any questions.

Buccino has been charged with battery on a disabled adult. He has one felony conviction (violent) and two misdemeanor convictions (non-violent).

He was arrested for domestic aggravated battery in January 2024 and sentenced to three years of probation in March 2024, with adjudication of guilt withheld. He violated probation in April 2024 when THC was found in his urine; in May 2024, Judge David Kreider reinstated his probation with a requirement to complete a substance abuse evaluation and submit to random drug testing. He violated probation again in November 2024 when he failed to complete a batterer’s intervention course, as required; the course facilitator told his probation officer that Buccino made “inappropriate and hostile comments… during groups,” which also caused him to be banned from returning. The probation officer reported that when he attempted to question Buccino, he “spoke only in incoherent riddles and erratically made unsettling comments of his surroundings.”

In January 2025, Judge Kreider reinstated his probation after a jail sentence of 89 days with credit for 89 days served and ordered him to enroll in a batterer’s intervention course within 30 days.

Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $40,000 on the new charges.

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.