Gainesville Police arrested a local man Monday after he stole a ladder and broke into his former apartment.
At about 10:30 a.m., John Roxby, 46, was evicted from his unit in Campus Walk Apartments, located at 914 SW Eighth Ave., according to a police report. Just after 9 p.m., he rode his bicycle back to the apartment complex. Despite the “no trespassing” signs, he then entered the nearby Tuscana Luxury Apartments construction site and stole a ladder.
A resident of Campus Walk saw Roxby lean the ladder against the east side of the Campus Walk apartment building. The resident told police Roxby took his shirt off and wrapped it around an unknown object before using the object to break a window. However, when he looked inside, Roxby said he realized he had the wrong apartment, according to the report.
He then broke the back window of the right apartment, cutting his hand in the process. The resident saw him climb down, throw the ladder over the fence of the construction site and then re-enter his old apartment through the front door, according to the report.
Officers stopped Roxby as he left the apartment a second time, according to the report. He told police he lived there for six years before he fell on bad luck and had to leave. Roxby refused to answer any other questions.
Police arrested Roxby on charges of burglary of both occupied and unoccupied homes, trespassing and petit theft.
Officers took him to the Alachua County Jail where he remained as of press time in lieu of a $15,000 bond.
[A version of this story ran on page 21 on 4/22/2015]
