Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Nakiya Lorraine Griffin, 23, was arrested yesterday and charged with aggravated battery and tampering with a witness after allegedly hitting a GRACE resident in the face with a gun while demanding money and then threatening to beat her up if she didn’t drop the charge.

The victim told the responding Gainesville Police Department officer that at about 1:30 a.m. on October 4, she was sitting in the woods at GRACE Marketplace, talking with a man and another unidentified friend. She said Griffin walked up and asked her for money that she said the man owed her for sexual services. She said Griffin was under the impression that she had the money.

The man reportedly told the officer that a woman walked up to them, pulled out a handgun, and hit the victim in the face with the handgun.

An officer showed the victim a photo line-up on October 20, and the victim reportedly picked Griffin out of the six-photo line-up. The victim also reportedly told the officer that Griffin had approached her on October 19 and told her to drop the charges or she would return and beat her up.

Griffin was arrested on October 20 after an anonymous call was received, stating that Griffin was near the basketball court at GRACE Marketplace.

Post Miranda, Griffin reportedly said she had not been at GRACE on October 4; she said she had previously been trespassed from GRACE, so when she saw an officer at the entrance of the facility, she decided not to enter the property. She said she had never interacted with the victim and did not hit her with a handgun. She provided an alibi, saying she was with a man smoking “ice” at the time of the incident. Griffin said she was only at GRACE to collect food that a church was providing to “everyone at GRACE” and that she knew nothing about the allegations although the victim said Griffin had threatened her the previous day in an effort to get her to drop them.

Griffin has been charged with aggravated battery and tampering with a witness. She has three felony convictions, all for grand theft of a motor vehicle, and one misdemeanor conviction for resisting an officer without violence. She has served one state prison sentence and was released in September 2023. Judge Kristine Van Vorst set bail at $40,000 on the tampering charge and ordered Griffin held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial on the aggravated battery 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.