Two Live Oaks men were arrested Thursday after video surveillance caught them on a robbing spree in November, Gainesville Police said.
Police said Farrell Quinn Smith Jr., 20, and Josey Joseph Tyrone Carter, 18, were in a white minivan when surveillance cameras filmed them circling the First Place Auto Sales, located at 638 N. Main St., three times Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, according to a police report. Lives Oaks Police identified Smith as a suspect in an armed robbery that took place at about 5:20 a.m.
The two and the minivan were recognized from other burglaries and robberies within Alachua County, Columbia County and Suwannee County, according to the report.
On Nov. 11 at about 1:08 a.m., video caught Smith and Carter parking the minivan next to First Place Auto Sales and burglarizing a 2006 silver Dodge Caravan in the parking lot. The car’s ignition switch was damaged during the burglary, and police suspected Smith and Carter tried to steal the car, according to the report.
Damage to the car is estimated to be about $1,000, according to the report.
About 14 minutes after Smith and Carter left First Place Auto Sales, surveillance videos show them burglarizing a 2007 silver Chrysler Town and Country van, which was parked near the 500 block of N. Main St., according to the report.
Later, at about 3 a.m., video surveillance at the Circle K on the 4000 block of SE Hawthorne Road showed Smith and Carter committing an armed robbery, according to the report. The white minivan is also in the video.
When police interviewed Carter, he confessed to the armed robberies and told officers Smith was involved, according to the report. Carter and Smith were wearing the same clothing from the videos of the burglaries and robberies when police found them.
Carter told GPD he went to Gainesville against his will.
“It wasn’t even by my choice, he said, according to the report. “It was by force.”
Smith told police he was in Gainesville at the time of the incidents with the mother of his unborn child, according to the report.
Police arrested Smith on charges of unarmed burglary and grand theft auto. He is being held at the Alachua County Jail, as of press time, in lieu of $515,000 bond.
Police arrested Carter on a charge of armed robbery. Carter has been held at Suwannee County Jail since Nov. 18 and is being held in lieu of a $200,000 bond.
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