GPD: MAN SAID HE HAD COCAINE TO SUPPORT BABY

Gainesville Police said a man who ditched a loaded handgun while running
from them claimed he planned to sell the cocaine officers found with him to
support his baby.

[name redacted], 21, of 1107 S.E. 20th St., was charged with carrying a
concealed firearm, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of
drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest.

Officer Tony Ferro said he and two other uniformed officers spotted [name
redacted] and others standing in the middle of the intersection of
Southeast 19th Avenue and 13th Place at about 9:15 p.m. Thursday. Ferro
said that as soon as [name redacted] spotted the officers, he began to run
from them despite being ordered to stop.

During the chase, Ferro and Officer Anton Lipski saw [name redacted] run
into a carport where he hit a metal locker.

[name redacted] "Bounced off the locker, caught his balance on a car in the
carport , and threw a loaded .38 caliber revolver up at the carport roof,"
Ferro wrote in [name redacted]'s arrest report. Ferro also wrote that [name
redacted] had been hiding the gun in the waistband of his pants.

When officers caught up with [name redacted], they found a small white tube
holding five rocks of crack cocaine, Ferro said.

Following his arrest, [name redacted] told officers he bought the gun for
$20 from a friends named [name2 redacted] and accidentally threw the gun on
the roof during the chase. [name redacted] also claimed he bought the crack
earlier in the day and was planning to sell it to support his baby.

[name redacted] was booked into the Alachua County jail.