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By Staff Reporter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A 34-year-old Newberry resident, David Russell Nantz III, was taken into custody yesterday following an arrest warrant related to a burglary at a residence located just across from the University of Florida campus.
On March 5, a homeowner reported a break-in to the Gainesville Police Department. The incident involved a broken back window, through which a laptop and headphones were stolen. Additionally, a sprinkler head and a propane tank were reportedly taken from the exterior of the property.
Security footage from the vicinity captured two individuals loitering near the house on March 4. At 12:42 p.m., cameras recorded a silver car pulling up, with Nantz stepping out from the driver’s side and approaching the front of the home, where he allegedly removed a sprinkler head from the landscaping.
Approximately eight minutes later, a woman exited the silver vehicle and moved to the driver’s side. Audio from the surveillance allegedly captures her shouting at Nantz, “David! Put it back! I said, put it back! You’re not taking anything!”
The video reportedly shows Nantz putting something in the back seat of the vehicle, and the woman takes it out; Nantz puts it back in the car, and the woman takes it out again, and then Nantz reverses the car out of the driveway.
Three minutes after that, Nantz can be seen walking back toward the house, carrying an empty five-gallon bucket. A minute later, Nantz is seen walking to the silver car, with multiple items in the bucket. A minute later, he returns to the house, carrying a black duffle bag, and two minutes after that, he comes back without the bag, while the woman tells him to hurry up and says, “We have to go!”
Detectives found that the car is registered to Nantz’s wife, and her driver’s license photo reportedly matches the woman in the surveillance videos. Nantz’s driver’s license photo was used to identify him as the man in the videos.
Nantz has been charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, grand theft, and misdemeanor property damage. He has nine local misdemeanor convictions, mostly traffic offenses, and he was found mentally incompetent to proceed with two cases in 2022 but did not meet the criteria for commitment to a treatment facility. He was issued four Notices to Appear in 2025 for driving without a license, but all of the cases were dropped. He is facing a sworn complaint for stealing items from Home Depot in May 2025. In a March 11 warrant, Judge James Colaw ordered that Nantz be held without bail until trial.
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.