BY DAN HILDEBRAN
After being sentenced to five years in prison for driving with a suspended license, failure to appear, and possession of cocaine, a Starke man was arrested and sent to Gainesville to face domestic battery and other charges in Alachua County.
Malcolm Jamal Newby, 38, pleaded to possession of cocaine and to his third conviction of driving with a suspended or revoked license on August 28. The plea also included an admission that he failed to appear for a May 16, 2022, trial for the charges that resulted from a November 30, 2021, traffic stop.
According to an arrest report, a Starke police officer saw the defendant driving a silver Dodge pickup near Starke’s Delta Food Store when the lawman knew his driver’s license had been suspended. The officer reported that after stopping the defendant on Old Lawtey Road, he found 0.27 grams of a rock-like substance on the floorboard of the truck, and the substance tested positive for cocaine.
Judge James Colaw sentenced Newby to five years for the driving and drug charges, in addition to no-showing his trial.
After the sentencing hearing, deputies drove the defendant to Gainesville, where he was booked into the Alachua County Jail on charges of domestic battery by strangulation and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
According to a complaint, on March 13, the defendant accused his girlfriend of cheating, and he threatened her with a spatula.
The victim told police Newby always carried a small handgun with him and that he said he was “waiting on the right time” to use it.
The victim claimed that Newby’s attacks continued as the night progressed, with the defendant choking the victim and leaving a bruise on her left eye.
