Staff Report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the early hours of December 18, 41-year-old Jeffrey White was taken into custody following accusations of breaking into an apartment while one of the residents was asleep. Initially apprehended on charges of loitering and prowling, White now faces additional charges of burglary and stalking.

At approximately 2:46 a.m. on December 18, officers from the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) were dispatched to Oakbrook Walk Apartments, located at 1331 A SW 13th Street. A resident reported that White had entered her apartment while her roommate was still asleep inside.

The roommate recalled being startled awake to find a man in her bedroom, who was heard addressing the other resident’s dogs by name. After leaving the room, the man reportedly lingered outside the apartment, inquiring, “The firefighters and paramedics are here, do you know what that’s about?” before eventually departing.

The woman who reported the incident mentioned she had come across the man multiple times at the local dog park over the past six months, though she emphasized that there was no personal relationship between them.

An officer found White on the third floor of the victims’ apartment building, wearing clothes that matched the description provided by the victims, and arrested him. White reportedly told the officer that he lives at Frederick Gardens (1130 SW 16th Avenue).

Post Miranda, White reportedly declined to answer any questions. The officer reported that he did not seem to be inebriated.

After further investigation, a GPD officer reported that White had taken a key hidden outside the apartment and entered the apartment with the key, uninvited and unannounced, before walking through the apartment to the roommate’s bedroom. The roommate reported that after calling for the first woman’s dogs by their names, he left, and she followed him to the door, and the first woman arrived as he was leaving. The first woman told the officer that she had no idea why White would have entered the apartment, but she speculated that he must have followed her at some point to find out where she lived.

White has been charged with loitering/prowling, burglary of an occupied dwelling, and stalking. He has no local criminal history but has an unspecified criminal history in Illinois and Texas, including two non-extraditable warrants out of Texas. Judge Jonathan Ramsey ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

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.