Gainesville Police are still searching for a man who kidnapped a UF student and held him hostage in his home for hours, according to police officials.
Police are looking for a suspect named Ronald Newman, a 44-year-old white man, said Cpl. Angelina Valuri, GPD public information officer.
He was recently released from a Georgia prison, where he had been serving time since 1994.
Valuri said she did not know why he was imprisoned.
The search began at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday when a GPD officer patrolling a neighborhood in Gainesville along the 900 block of Northwest 15th Avenue saw a suspicious man loitering in the dark, Valuri said.
When the officer approached him, the man began to run.
Police surrounded the area and searched for the man but didn't find him.
At 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, GPD received a 911 call from a UF student who had pulled into the parking lot of a local Florida Highway Patrol station.
He said a man had held him at home by gunpoint all night.
His description matched the police description of the man who had run from an officer Tuesday night, and his home was near the same area, Valuri said.
The student told police he had heard a sound outside and went into his yard to investigate at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
He said the man forced him inside, holding a gun.
The man said he was being chased by police and needed the student's help.
He also said he was wanted on several warrants from Georgia, Valuri said.
When the student's roommate came home later that night, the man hid in the student's room.
The student told the roommate to act like everything was fine, Valuri said.
The student told police the man decided at 5 a.m. Wednesday that he needed help getting his vehicle back.
He said it had been towed, but he didn't know where, Valuri said.
The student suggested University Towing, located at 2456 NW 74th Place, and drove him there.
"As soon as the guy got out of the car, he hit the gas and drove immediately to the highway patrol station," Valuri said.
Police searched the towing compound and the surrounding area but didn't find the man.
The search is ongoing.
"We've had detectives working on the case all day," Valuri said.
Police found a vehicle that may have been the one the man wanted to find.
A green van with Georgia plates had been towed to Superior Towing, on the opposite side of town from University Towing, she said.
Valuri said the van, a Honda Odyssey, was stolen in Georgia.
The man is wanted by GPD on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and armed burglary.
