Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Leonard Lee Jones, 36, was arrested last night and charged with hitting another man with a hatchet.

At about 8:41 p.m. on July 10, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the 800 block of SW 63rd Street (SWAG area), where the victim said Jones had “sliced” him with an axe. Deputies reported that the victim had visible injuries that were consistent with being cut by a sharp object. The victim said he knew the suspect personally and provided his name; the victim also said the hatchet had a brown wooden handle and a silver blade.

Deputies went to Jones’s address and spoke with another occupant of the home, who said Jones has a hatchet with a brown handle and silver blade that he keeps in a closet and takes to work with him every day; the witness said the hatchet was no longer in the closet.

Post Miranda, Jones reportedly said he has never owned a hatchet or possessed a hatchet. When asked about the witness’s statement, Jones reportedly said, “Did you find a hatchet, though?”

While on a separate call after the incident, deputies gained access to surveillance video from the building where the victim was attacked, and the video reportedly showed a black male matching Jones’s description, wearing the same clothing Jones was wearing at the time of his arrest, holding a hatchet with a brown handle and a silver blade and swinging the hatchet at the victim, hitting him in the back.

Jones has been charged with aggravated battery causing bodily harm. Jones has five felony convictions (two violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (none violent); he has served four state prison sentences and was most recently released in 2020. Court records show a pending charge for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, but the documents have not yet been uploaded. Judge Denise Ferrero 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.