Recent arrests in Bradford, Union and Clay
The following individuals were recently arrested by local law enforcement officers in Bradford, Union, or Clay (Keystone Heights area) counties. All defendants are considered innocent until convicted in a court or until pleading guilty or no contest. Information in this report is from law enforcement agencies and court documents, which are public records.
Bradford
Rachel Joy Adkins, 41, of Columbia, Tennessee, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 6 for a probation violation.
Kevin Blair, 53, of Perry, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 5 for a moving traffic violation.
She said he hit her, he said she fell
Stephen Carzell Cray, 43, of Starke, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 4 for felony battery.
The arrest stemmed from a warrant signed by Judge D. Tatum Davis on July 28, following an investigation by Deputy A. Mayben that began July 26.
According to Mayben’s sworn warrant affidavit, deputies were called to the sheriff’s office that evening in reference to an assault that had already occurred, but the complainant had left before they arrived. After several attempts, Mayben reached the woman by phone and met her at her residence.
The woman told the deputy she had been sitting in a parked car on the side of a road in the Pleasant Grove area with a friend, a 44-year-old male, when Cray pulled up in his mother’s car. She said that when she got out of the vehicle, a rental car she said belonged to Cray and that he had let her borrow, Cray struck her in the face two to three times with a closed fist and began pulling her by the hair.
She told Mayben that Cray then tried to get her into his car to take her to the hospital, but that she got back into the car she had arrived in and drove there herself. She said Cray followed her to the hospital, tried to stop her from going in, and took the rental car.
Mayben reported observing an injury to the right side of the woman’s lip. She told him she had received stitches at the hospital.
The woman said she and Cray had been together for about 20 years but had not lived together since 2022 and had been broken up for roughly a year. They were never married and have no children in common, she said, but had remained friends. The affidavit lists the case as involving domestic violence.
Deputies went to Cray’s last known address the same night but found only his mother, who said he had left with a friend.
Reached by phone, Cray told Mayben that the woman and her companion had been trying to jump him, that the woman fell and landed on her face, and that the 44-year-old had attempted to pull a gun on him. Cray said he was in Lake City picking up a company truck for a job in Jacksonville and could not meet a deputy in person until after 7 a.m.
Mayben contacted the woman a second time in light of Cray’s statement. She said she had no knowledge of her companion having a firearm, that he had already left after the initial altercation, and that no altercation occurred between Cray and the 44-year-old. She had earlier told the deputy that the two men never had a physical altercation and that her companion left when Cray struck her.
Attempts to reach the witness by phone were unsuccessful, the affidavit states.
Jeffrey Paul Gaudette, 43, of Sneads, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 3 for withholding support.
Roderick Montreal Gettis, 43, of Starke, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 6 for failure to appear.
Report: Padded her pay by altering checks
Pamelia Louise Gibbs, 55, of Hampton, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 5 for larceny, exploiting an elderly person and fraud.
According to court papers, the investigation began Jan. 27, when Bradford Sheriff’s Sgt. Lakiesha Lewis responded to a single-family home in reference to a reported theft. There a witness told the sergeant the resident requires around-the-clock care from three caregivers. The witnes said she believed Gibbs, one of the caregivers, had taken more than $4,000.
Caregivers are paid by check on the same day they work, the witness told deputies. Gibbs would typically work a 24-hour shift, and the resident would sign a check for her services. Davis said she later found discrepancies involving several checks written for $940, — an amount she said would never be legitimate for caregiving services. Reviewing the checks, Davis said the numeric amounts appeared altered, with a “4” apparently changed to a “9” and a “7” changed to a “9.” The checks dated back to roughly August 2025, when Gibbs began working at the residence.
Deputy Sheriff Mozingo interviewed Gibbs on Feb. 14 after reading her Miranda rights, the affidavit says. Gibbs said she earned $10 an hour working 24-hour shifts, making her usual check $720 for three days work, and that larger checks covered groceries, adult diapers and breakfast sandwiches she bought with cash without keeping receipts. Asked why some numbers appeared altered, Gibbs said the resident wrote the amounts and corrected them at her direction, a statement the deputy noted contradicted Gibbs’ earlier account that the resident signed the checks and Gibbs filled in the rest.
Gibbs has been let go as a caregiver, according to the report.
Adam Christopher Glisson, 44, of Starke, was arrested by FHP troopers and Bradford deputies on August 4 for an out-of-county warrant, larceny and trespassing.
Ronald Christopher Goodman, 45, of Starke, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 6 for two counts of conditional release violation and trespassing.
Melissa Kay Griffis, 40, of Hampton, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 3 for possession of drug equipment, possession of opium or a derivative, possession of drugs and a drug health or safety violation.
Punched after stepping in between two women
Kerri Joanne Hall, 34, of Lawtey, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 5 for battery.
Deputy Taylor Sanders wrote in an arrest report that he arrived at the home around 2:55 a.m. and found Hall appearing intoxicated, with slurred speech and difficulty maintaining her balance. Hall told the deputy she was having a hard time controlling her emotions, the report states.
A man identified in the report as Hall’s on-again, off-again partner of roughly 11 years told deputies Hall struck him in the nose. Sanders reported seeing no visible injury, and the man said he did not wish to pursue charges.
A witness told the deputy she saw Hall strike the man and then move toward another woman at the residence. The man said he stepped between the two and pushed Hall back. The woman said Hall never made physical contact with her.
Hall told the deputy she believed she may have struck the man while trying to push past him, according to the report. Sanders concluded there was probable cause to name Hall the primary aggressor.
Caleb Bishop Harris, 21, of Lake Butler, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 5 for an out-of-county warrant.
Charlie Bradford Manning, 40, of Lawtey, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 4 for two counts of possession of drugs and two counts of possession of drug equipment.
James Michael Marchant, 39, of Tallahassee, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 4 for a probation violation.
Tonnie Michelle Martin, 28, of Keystone Heights, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 5 for battery.
67-year-old swindled out of $67,000
Mohit Mohit, 21, of Jacksonville, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 3 for exploiting an elderly person and larceny.
According to court documents, Mohit was the cash courier in a scheme that drained roughly $67,000 from a 67-year-old Starke woman.
A Bradford County Sheriff’s Office warrant affidavit, affidavit, filed by Det. Franklin Ehrnreiter, states deputies went to the woman’s Southeast Bradford County home July 27 after word that she had already handed over tens of thousands of dollars and was gathering more.
She said a caller claiming to represent her bank told her the account was being drained and instructed her to open accounts at two other institutions, then withdraw cash and deliver it in taped boxes marked “thank you.”
Two handoffs took place in Keystone Heights: $37,000 on July 23 at a Family Dollar and $30,000 the next day at the former Hitchcock’s. A different person met her each time. When deputies arrived, she was still on the phone with the caller, who asked minutes later why the sheriff’s office was at her house.
Family Dollar surveillance video showed a grayish-blue Jeep circling the lot, backing into a space near the entrance and sitting there before pulling alongside the victim’s car to take the box, the report says. A license plate reader captured the same Jeep on State Road 100 three minutes later.
The Jeep’s Pennsylvania tag was registered to a Honda, owned by the defendant, the affidavit states. Detectives say the Broward County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the same vehicle in a separate gold-bar scam and provided a surveillance photo of the driver.
On the day she was interviewed, the woman had already withdrawn $14,000 in cash and obtained a $36,000 cashier’s check for a delivery that had not yet been scheduled.
After the arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer for the defendant.
Tiara Mercy Janea Montgomery, 36, of Starke, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 6 for an out-of-county warrant.
Stewart Dale Pettway, 55, of Gainesville, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 1 for DUI.
Report: Stopped by Walmart employee while trying to steal, ran from deputies into the woods
Evander Zimmerman Scott, 31, of Lawtey, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 3 for resisting an officer and larceny.
According to an arrest report, Deputy A. George was dispatched to the Murphy gas station at 2440 Commercial Drive around 6:35 p.m. after Walmart employees reported a shoplifting suspect was at pump No. 2.
As the deputy arrived, the vehicle Scott was riding in pulled away from the pump. The deputy activated his emergency lights and the car stopped in the parking lot.
Scott, the passenger, ran toward nearby woods and ignored commands to stop, the report states. Other units located and detained him a short time later. The driver, who stayed with the vehicle, told deputies he did not know what was happening and was released. Scott also said the driver had no involvement.
Scott was evaluated by Bradford County EMS for cuts and scratches on his legs and declined treatment. After being read his rights, he told the deputy he had grabbed several items and walked past the registers but left them at the front of the store after being stopped by loss prevention.
A loss prevention officer wrote in a sworn statement that she watched on camera as the subject selected beer, filled a cart and exited through the general merchandise doors, setting off the alarm system before abandoning the cart and running.
The report values the Aug. 3 merchandise at $214.37 and cites an earlier July 1 theft of $113.67, both captured on store video.
Got mower back from pawn shop, next day, its back
Andre Lejuan Sessions, 37, of Hampton, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 1 for dealing in stolen property, fraud and larceny.
Deputy B. Frampton responded to Lending Bear at 650 S. Walnut St. around 10:55 a.m. after the shop reported a stolen mower. The report states that the victim had pawned her Yard Machines mower with the store and picked it back up July 31. The next morning, she woke to find it gone and called the pawn shop to ask employees to watch for it.
By then, the report says, it was already there. An employee told deputies a man had pawned a mower at 9:52 a.m. Staff compared paperwork from both transactions and found the make, model and serial number identical. The pawn form carried a signature and thumbprint.
A follow-up review of store security video showed Sessions carrying the mower in and completing the transaction, according to the report.
Deputies made contact at his Hampton home, where his wife said he already knew about the situation and was en route. After being read his rights, Sessions told deputies he took the mower from Minton’s backyard and used the pawn money to buy marijuana in Hawthorne, the report states.
A records check showed five prior felony convictions and three misdemeanors, including three for theft.
Alvin Blake Stinson, 39, of Warner Robbins, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 1 for a probation violation.
Anthony Lamar Tyson, 55, of Starke, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 3 for failure to appear.
Dendrea Demetirius Wallace, 33, of Gainesville, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 3 for a probation violation.
Joseph Williamson, 59, of Starke, was arrested by Bradford deputies on August 6 for a sexual predator violation.
Union
Denied service at bar, flashed gun
Houston Andrews, 29, of Raiford, was arrested by Union deputies on August 8 for improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.
An arrest report states deputies were called to the Spring Town Saloon on Southwest State Road 121 around 10:10 p.m. for a disturbance. The report says the complainant told dispatchers that Andrews was inside the establishment and had pulled out a gun.
Deputy Austin Kazmierski wrote that when he arrived, a bartender told him a man had brandished a firearm after being refused service. Patrons initially said Andrews had left and was last seen near the tree line of the property.
According to the report, the bartender had stopped serving Andrews because he was intoxicated, then told him she would resume service if he drank water and sobered up. He did, and service resumed, but was stopped a second time, a second employee told the deputy. That employee said Andrews was angry about being cut off and that he lifted his shirt to reveal a firearm and told the bartender, “If you won’t serve me, then f— you.” Ross said he then left the bar and caused a disturbance with patrons on the porch.
Deputy Sumner, who wrote a supplemental report, said he was outside the bar when he saw Andrews walking back toward the entrance with another man. Sumner ordered Andrews to put his hands on a nearby pickup truck and said he removed a holstered handgun from Andrews’ waistband and a second handgun from his right hip. The report describes a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic with a loaded magazine and a round in the chamber, and an unloaded Taurus .38-caliber revolver. A pocketknife, cellphone, wallet and cash were also taken from his pockets.
Both deputies wrote that Andrews smelled strongly of alcohol, had slurred speech and glassy eyes, and could not stand or walk without assistance.
After being read his Miranda rights, Andrews said he had done nothing wrong and never entered the bar with his firearm, according to the report. He also acknowledged he was intoxicated.
Joshua Harris, 40, of Lake Butler, was arrested by Union deputies on August 4 for an out-of-county warrant.
Gregory Tyre, 46, of Lake Butler, was arrested by Union deputies on August 7 for driving while license suspended or revoked, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession or use of drug equipment and an out-of-county warrant.
Sarah Tyson, 36, of Lake Butler, was arrested by Union deputies on August 5 for an out-of-county warrant.
Clay
Brian Christopher Clark, 30, of Keystone Heights, was arrested by Clay deputies on August 3 for battery.
