Drops of blood left behind during a break-in at the Greater New Hope Baptist Church in June led to the arrest of a man on felony charges on Monday.
Kyle Blundell, 27, of Gainesville, was accused of breaking into the church on the 15000 block of Northwest 278th Avenue and trying to get inside the pastor’s office, according to an arrest report from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office. Blood in the church matched Blundell’s DNA, which led to his arrest.
The report did not say why he broke into the church.
Blundell was released from the Alachua County Jail on his own recognizance Thursday morning. He has been charged with burglary and criminal mischief of a church, which are both third degree felonies, according to county records.
Damages included a broken glass window, a damaged pastor’s office door and a broken mirror that was attached to it and an interior door that was “almost broken in half,” deputies wrote.
Blundell was previously arrested on a misdemeanor charge of damage to property in 2015 among other arrests more than $200 and less than $1,000, according to county records.
The Alligator was unable to reach the church and the person who filed the complaint in time for publication.
