Alachua Woman Arrested for Car Theft While On Probation

GAINESVILLE – At 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 7, authorities apprehended a 39-year-old Alachua woman, charging her with grand theft of a vehicle and possession of drug paraphernalia

A Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officer responded to the intersection of Northeast 35^th Avenue and Northeast 11^th Terrace after a concerned citizen reported a suspicious vehicle. The officer found Crystal Fay Cascaddan sleeping in the driver’s seat of a 2004 Saturn SUV with no tag. The officer discovered that the SUV had been reported stolen from Tomlinson Motor Company on April 3.

Cascaddan reportedly told the officer that she had the keys to the SUV and that she got the vehicle from a friend.

When the officer asked her to get out of the vehicle, she allegedly threw a piece of tin foil into nearby bushes and tried to bury a glass pipe in leaves at her feet. The officer reported that he didn’t find any contraband in the foil.

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced a long copper pipe that appeared to be modified for the consumption of narcotics.

Post Miranda, Cascaddan reportedly said she got the SUV from a friend and threw the foil into the bushes because she thought it contained “meth.” She reportedly admitted having a small amount of fentanyl in a bag in the car. However, for the officer’s safety the substance was not field-tested and was sent to FDLE for testing.

Cascaddan reportedly said the copper pipe was her “straw” that she uses to smoke fentanyl. The officer reported that Cascaddan eventually admitted finding the keys to the SUV on top of one of its tires a few nights earlier. She admitted that she took the vehicle and didn’t know who owned it.

Less than two weeks ago, Cascaddan entered a plea in two cases of retail theft and was sentenced to two years of probation, with a condition that she live without breaking the law.

Cascaddan has five non violent felony convictions and five non violent misdemeanor convictions. She has served one state prison sentence and was released in 2019.

Cascaddan was ordered to be held without bond for violating her probation and Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $11,000 on the new charges.

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