Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Craig Darnell Presley, 52, and Chadrick Rodell Smith Jr., 27, were arrested yesterday after a five-year-old child was found wandering in an apartment complex and the two men reportedly admitted they had given up looking for the boy.

At about 2:00 p.m. on September 7, a Gainesville Police Department officer was responding to a call at an unnamed apartment complex and saw a small child walking alone along the complex’s roadway toward a major road. The officer asked a group of teenagers if they knew the child, and they reportedly said they did not but offered to go get him. The teens chased down the child while the officer turned around and parked, and the teens pulled the boy back from the roadway, just as a car drove by.

The officer interviewed the child, who provided his name and age but could not say where he lived. A resident of the complex recognized the child and made calls to find the child’s apartment number.

The officer went to the apartment and spoke to five other children there; the children reportedly said the five-year-old boy has a history of taking off, and the adults looked for him before giving up and returning home. The children said one of the adults had gone to sleep after giving up the search.

While the officer was speaking to the children, Presley came out, and the officer reported that he was holding up his unfastened pants and appeared disheveled, but he denied having been asleep. While gathering additional information, the officer made contact with Smith, who reportedly said the boy had run outside when two other adults left to go to the grocery store. Smith reportedly said he can’t run, but he tried looking for the child; when he couldn’t find him, he returned to the apartment. Smith reportedly said the child had done this before, and the officer reported that he “appeared unbothered” by the boy’s disappearance.

The officer asked the two men whether they had called law enforcement or anyone else to help find the child, and they reportedly said the boy hadn’t been gone that long, but they would have eventually called. They also reportedly said they had not contacted the other adults to let them know the boy had run out of the apartment.

The other adults returned while the officer was speaking with Presley and Smith, and they reportedly said they had left the child in the care of Presley and Smith about a half hour before the officer saw the child wandering in the complex.

The officer reported that on the way to the jail, Presley said he was only watching his kids and the five-year-old boy was not his responsibility. The officer said he hadn’t been watching his kids, either, and he reportedly denied sleeping.

Presley has been charged with child neglect without great bodily harm and was also booked on two child support warrants. He has one felony conviction (violent) and two misdemeanor convictions (non-violent). Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered him released on his own recognizance, once he pays the child support amounts.

Smith has been charged with child neglect without great bodily harm. He has two felony convictions (non-violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (non-violent); he was arrested in both June and July 2025 for trespassing at GRACE Marketplace after a warning and was sentenced on August 12 to 27 days in jail with credit for 27 days served, along with two fines of $376 each. Judge Miller-Jones set bail at $25,000 on the new charge.

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.