Local

HAWTHORNE ‒ At 3:19 p.m. on March 30, units from Windsor and Melrose Fire Departments and Alachua County Fire Rescue were dispatched to a residential building fire on Southeast 218^th Street in Hawthorne.

Crews from Station 62 in Hawthorne arrived less than six minutes after being dispatched and found smoke and flames coming from the laundry room. They made an immediate attack and had the fire out within a couple of minutes. Thanks to a closed door between the laundry room and the rest of the house the fire did not spread to any other rooms in the residence. Crews were able to extinguish it before it spread up into the attic.

All of the occupants and pets escaped without harm. The cause of the fire is under investigation. ACFR cautions everyone to make sure they have working smoke detectors and to keep interior doors closed when not in use.

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HAWTHORNE ‒ Humberto Toledo-Russias, 34, was arrested on Wednesday, March 29, following an investigation into multiple vehicle thefts from local hotels. A search of the property where he lived reportedly produced a large number of vehicles in various states of disassembly, vehicle parts and vehicle documents/titles.

On April 19, 2022, a man parked his orange 2018 Jeep Wrangler, valued at about $39,000, in the parking lot of the Residence Inn by Marriott at 3275 S.W. 40^th Boulevard in Gainesville and reported that it was gone the next morning. The Wrangler was picked up by a license plate reader shortly after the theft and it was reportedly followed by another Jeep Wrangler with a dealer tag registered to Toledo Motorsports, Inc., a company registered in Miami by Elvira Leon and Gisel Soto and operated by Toledo-Russias, his grandmother and his girlfriend, Soto. The second Wrangler with the dealer tag was found stripped and abandoned in Hawthorne on Sept. 4, 2022.

On Sept. 2, 2022, a man parked his black 2020 Ford F-150 Raptor, valued at about $75,000, at Homewood Suites at 3333 S.W. 42^nd Street, Gainesville, and reported that it was gone the next morning. The pickup also contained a Traeger Ranger pellet grill.

On March 11, 2023, a woman parked her black 2020 Jeep Wrangler, valued at about $40,000, at the Red Roof Plus hotel at 3500 S.W. 42^nd Street, Gainesville, and reported that it was gone the next morning. Surveillance video reportedly showed a white Ford “Platinum” edition pickup truck parking directly next to the Wrangler. About four minutes later, both vehicles left together.

On March 29, 2023, a Gainesville Police Department (GPD) Detective drove to Toledo-Russias’ address in Hawthorne, and he was able to see a “large number of new model Jeep and Dodge vehicles” from the roadway. The detective reportedly saw Toledo-Russias drive a forklift off the property and load a vehicle motor onto a semi truck. The detective obtained a search warrant for the property on the evening of March 29, and it was executed by both GPD and Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ASO) personnel just after midnight on March 30.

The ASO SWAT team tactically secured the property and detained Toledo-Russias and Soto. The Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) on the vehicles and parts found on the property matched several vehicles that had been reported stolen, including a white 2021 Jeep Gladiator “392” stolen out of Alachua County, a gray 2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat stolen out of Broward County and a black 2020 Jeep Gladiator stolen out of Seminole County.

A number of orange Jeep Wrangler parts were found, and a windshield still had a parking sticker from a complex in St. Augustine that the owner of the Wrangler, which was stolen in April 2022, identified as his, providing a photo of the vehicle with the same sticker.

The stripped-down chassis of the F-150 Raptor stolen in September 2022 was found on the property, in addition to multiple Raptor parts. The Traeger Ranger pellet grill was also reportedly found on the back porch of the residence.

The 2020 Jeep Wrangler that was stolen earlier in March was not found at the property, but multiple parts belonging to a black Jeep Wrangler were found. One part was a center console that still contained various personal effects, including a small pearl earring, which the owner of the Jeep identified as hers. A Wrangler door was also found in the garage and a small umbrella was still in the door pocket. The owner of the Jeep identified it as her umbrella.

The owner of a white Ford F-250 “Platinum” edition that was found at the property could not be determined because the VIN had been tampered with.

Post Miranda, Soto was reportedly asked about blank Jeep key fobs that were mailed to her name, but she said she didn’t know anything about the activities on the property, although she had lived there for about a year and had been dating Toledo-Russias for about seven years. She reportedly did not provide any pertinent information and was not arrested because she is 36 weeks pregnant and has a 7-year-old son.

Post Miranda, Toledo-Russias declined to speak with detectives and requested an attorney.

Toledo-Russias has been charged with six counts of grand theft over $20,000, operating a “chop shop” and dealing in stolen property. He has seven felony convictions, of which two were violent.

“Due to Mr. Humberto Toledo-Russias’ ability to flee to South Florida and possessing the financial means to leave the region, I am requesting an increased bond amount during the time of this active investigation,” said the investigating officer in his report. Judge Thomas Jaworski set bail at $1.35 million.

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ALACHUA ‒ Two separate traffic incidents occurred on Friday, April 7, and resulted in the death of two drivers. In one crash a 38-year-old Alachua man was killed at the southbound exit ramp of Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 441 on at 8:20 a.m. His vehicle was traveling east in the outside lane on U.S. Hwy 441, approaching the red traffic signal at the intersection of I-75, southbound exit ramp.

A tractor trailer driven by a 37-year-old Crawfordville, Florida, man was stopped for the red traffic signal at the same intersection in the outside lane, facing east and directly ahead of the van.

According to the Florida Highway report, the Alachua driver failed to stop for the traffic ahead causing the front of his van to collide with the rear of the tractor trailer.

The Alachua man was pronounced deceased on the scene by EMS personnel. He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The driver of the tractor trailer reported no injuries and no passengers were reported in either vehicle.

In a separate incident at 5:43 a.m. on the same date, a 57-year-old Starke man was killed when the motorcycle he was riding hit a deer on State Road 235 near Northwest 40^th Terrace. The motorcyclist was traveling west bound when he struck the deer and was subsequently ejected onto the roadway.

A 23-year-old male from Hampton was traveling east in a pickup truck and hit the motorcyclist. He reported no injuries and had no passengers in his vehicle at the time of the incident.

The Starke man was pronounced deceased on the scene.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The 6th Annual Santa Fe Plein Air Paintout begins Wednesday, April 12 with public viewing for three days in three parks. For the past six years, local and out-of-town plein air artists have flocked to High Springs to capture beautiful parks and springs through their plein art. This year, 18 artists will be painting in outdoor daylight at various park locations. This year’s poster painting is “Blue Springs” by Alachua artist Dana Queen.

Public observation days are Wednesday, April 12, Thursday, April 13, and Friday, April 14. For the best viewing experience, go early to capture most of the artists at work in the parks. Maps will be available at Lanza Gallery & Art Supplies during normal gallery hours all week 

April 12’s plein air observation is 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Rum Island Springs County Park, 1447 S.W. Rum Island Terrace, Fort White, Fla. There is a $5 park entrance fee.

April 13’s plein air observation is 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park, 7450 N.W. 60^th Street, High Springs, Fla. There is a park entry fee of $4 per person or $6 per car.

April 14’s plein air observation is 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at O'Leno State Park, 410 S.E. O'Leno Park Road, High Springs, Fla. L. There is a park entry fee of $4 per person or $6 per car.

Celebrate the work of all the plein air artists at an art reception at Lanza Gallery & Art Supplies on Saturday, April 15, from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. Light refreshments will be served, and all works are for sale with a percentage of all paintout sales going to the Howard T. Odum, Florida Springs Institute for the preservation of springs and rivers. The exhibit will be on display for sale at Lanza Gallery & Art Supplies, Saturday, April 15 through May 20, 2023.

For customers needing more information, call Lanza Gallery & Art Supplies at 352-474-1049.

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NEWBERRY ‒ A zipline park in Newberry is one step closer as the Newberry Planning and Zoning Board convened a quasi-judicial public hearing on April 3 to consider a request for Site and Development Plan approval for Zipline at Haile Quarry. The property consists of 70 +/- acres and is located at 3925 N.W. County Road 235. The request included construction or installation of an approximately 1,000-square-foot building, three towers and walking trails throughout the site.

City of Newberry Principal Planner Jean-Paul Perez presented this item to the Board and mentioned that the site is subject to the approval and conditions of a special exception granted at an earlier meeting through Resolution 2022-11/SE 22-04. Perez recommended the Board recommend approval to the Board of Adjustment with the same conditions included in the special exception.

In other business, two items relating to a project known as Newberry Plaza were addressed by the Board. Although both items received approval to recommend them to the City Commission for first reading, a lengthy discussion about two issues took up a considerable amount of the Board’s time prior to the unanimous vote to approve.

The first item was a large-scale Future Land Use Map Amendment to change the map from Agriculture to Planned Development on 128 +/- acres. The property is located at the southeast corner of State Road 26/West Newberry Road and Southwest 242^nd Street. The project proposes 350 dwelling units and 150,000 square feet of commercial use at build out. If the amendment is approved and the project goes forward, the developer plans to build about 50 homes a year beginning in 2025.

Concern by the Board that the developer may choose to build single-family dwelling units prior to developing the commercial property led to the recommendation to approve including a stipulation. The caveat added to the approval is that the developer provide 100 percent of the infrastructure for commercial development by the time 50 percent, or 151 homes, are built.

In the past, said Board members, developers build out the residential and then say they are unable to attract commercial businesses. They then come before the Board asking to develop residential in place of the planned commercial. The City seeks to attract commercial businesses as plans for residential property development is outpacing commercial.

The second item of concern is a historic home located on the property. The home would need at least $300,000 to bring it up to code to use as a large gathering place. Following a lengthy discussion, the applicant will go back to the developer and see if there might be a way to carve that property out of the development or to suggest a way in which the structure could be saved and used.

The large-scale amendment will be heard on first reading by the City Commission at the April 24 meeting. If approved at that time, the ordinance will be transmitted to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for their review and comments. The Board also unanimously recommended approval for Ordinance 2023-16/LDR 23-07, to change the zoning designation from Agricultural (A) to Planned Development (PD) for Newberry Plaza.

The final item on the agenda was a quasi-judicial public hearing on Resolution 2023-28, an application by the Florida Department of Agricultural & Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry, agent for Alachua County Public Works, owner, for site and development plan approval to allow construction of a 3,000-square-foot 50x60 foot pre-engineered pole barn on a portion of the Alachua County Agriculture and Equestrian Center, 22712 W. Newberry Road. The barn will have no utilities and will be used to house agricultural and Search and Rescue Transponder (SART) emergency response equipment.

Planning and Economic Development Director Bryan Thomas said this is the exact same pole barn the Board and City Commission approved about a year ago. They have since outgrown it, he said. The Board voted unanimously to recommend the Board of Adjustment approve the request at their April 24 meeting.

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GAINESVILLE ‒ The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is seeking any information the public may have about an unknown make and model silver colored SUV that caused a traffic crash on Friday March 24, around 10 p.m.

The crash involved a motorcycle with a male driver and female passenger and took place at the intersection of State Road 331, (Williston Road) and U.S. Highway 441 when the SUV turned left in front of the 2003 Harley motorcycle.

When the motorcycle rider took evasive action to avoid the SUV, control of the motorcycle was lost, causing both riders to be thrown across the roadway. The motorcycle driver sustained minor injuries, however the motorcycle passenger is in critical condition.

Anyone with tips or any other information about the driver and/or silver SUV that caused this collision is asked to call their local Crime Stoppers, *FHP or the FHP Regional Communications Center at 1-800-387-1290.

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