BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
STARKE— A judge ordered a 37-year-old Starke man released from custody after his lawyer proved he was not the man accused of carjacking a vehicle at a Circle K convenience store.
Ray Charles Smith Jr. was arrested on December 13 for carjacking and battery.
According to a Starke police report, the victim claimed she was pumping gasoline and cleaning her windshield at the U.S. 301 and State Road 16 outlet when a man entered her vehicle and attempted to drive off.
The victim said she struggled with the offender to open the driver-side door.
“Somehow, he finally opens the door or stops fighting me to close it, and the man exits the car,” the woman told police, as recounted in the arrest report. The victim added that the offender, wearing a grey hoodie, then ran across the street and she drove off.
Police reported that they showed the victim a photo lineup of possible suspects, and the victim picked Smith from the lineup.
“Ray is known to wear a grey hoodie and frequent Circle K,” wrote Officer George Durden in the report.
Durden added that after the victim identified the suspect, units canvassed the area looking for Smith but could not find him. However, Smith was seen at the convenience store the following day, and police took him into custody.
At a first appearance hearing later that day, Smith’s lawyer produced a report from Shands Vista Hospital in Gainesville showing that Smith was in the facility at the time of the attempted carjacking. A judge ordered the defendant’s immediate release, and the State Attorney’s Office dropped all charges.
