Editor's note: Thibault de Vernejoul was cleared of all charges.
Gainesville Police arrested two UF students early Thursday morning after they were seen tampering with a vehicle.
Police charged Thibault de Vernejoul, 18, of 1116 SW 14th Ave., and Laurence Kidd, 20, of 1044 SW 14th Ave., with attempted burglary, a third-degree felony, according to a GPD arrest report.
The report gave the following account:
At about 3 a.m. Thursday, a man called police and said he saw two men in the 1000 block of Southwest Second Place pulling on his car door handle.
When police arrived, officers found Vernejoul and Kidd leaving the area.
The caller identified Vernejoul and Kidd as the men he saw trying to break into his car.
Kidd told officers he tried about 20 car door handles and his cellphone was stolen. He said he thought he might find it in one of the cars.
Vernejoul told police Kidd lost his cellphone. He added that Kidd was determined to steal a replacement phone or enough money to purchase a new one.
GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said officers searched Vernejoul and Kidd’s apartments at Oakbrook Walk Residences for stolen items but didn’t find anything.
Police booked Vernejoul and Kidd into the Alachua County Jail at about 5 a.m, according to the report. They were released later Thursday.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
