A Gainesville woman ran away barefoot from a man who robbed her Wednesday night, Gainesville Police said.
Joseph Thomas S. Boone, 64, of Gainesville, was arrested by police officers who were responding to reports that a woman was being chased a block north of the intersection of Northeast Waldo Road and West University Avenue at about 11:30 p.m., Officer Ben Tobias, a GDP spokesperson, wrote in an email. Boone matched the description given of the man, Tobias said.
The woman told police Boone threatened her with his knife and took her blue drawstring bag from her shoulder, according to an arrest report. She took off running, leaving her shoes and the bag behind.
Her bag and shoes were found in woods nearby, police said.
Boone told police he had an argument with the woman and had something he shouldn’t have in his hand but said it was a stick that he was using to try to get his phone back from the victim, police said.
Police found a crack cocaine pipe on his person, and Boone told officers he had smoked it three hours before, Tobias said.
He was arrested on charges of armed robbery and possession of drug paraphernalia. Boone was taken to the Alachua County Jail, where he remains, as of press time, in lieu of a $75,000 bond.
Boone was convicted of at least two felonies in 2002, according to court records.
Contact Robert Lewis at rlewis@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @Lewis__Robert.
Joseph Thomas S. Boone
