Staff report
Updated with information from the 8th Judicial Circuit
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kevin Lloyd Dawson, 48, was arrested early this morning following allegations of pushing and threatening a family member with a gun, disposing of her phone, preventing two children and two adults from leaving his premises, and aiming a shotgun at a police officer who responded to the incident.
At approximately 9:35 p.m. on June 21, officers from the Gainesville Police Department were dispatched to Dawson’s residence after the family member sought refuge at a neighbor’s house and contacted the authorities for assistance.
The family member informed officers that during a dispute with Dawson, he shoved her onto a couch, seized her phone, and discarded it outside. In an attempt to evacuate the other four individuals, including two children, from the situation, she stated Dawson brandished a pistol and issued threats. Fearful for her safety, she fled the house and enlisted the help of a neighbor to contact 911.
When the first officer approached the front of the home, Dawson allegedly walked outside with a shotgun and pointed it at the officer while yelling something unintelligible. Dawson then went back inside.
The mother of the two children in the home called her children after officers arrived, and Dawson allegedly took the device from the children and refused to let them or the two adults leave the home. Officers and the mother of the children reportedly negotiated with Dawson until 10:37 p.m., when Dawson let the four occupants of the house leave. Dawson was arrested at 1:11 a.m.
A search of the home reportedly produced multiple weapons, including a loaded shotgun, a pistol, and a dismantled rifle, along with multiple boxes of ammunition for each gun.
Dawson has been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, robbery by sudden snatching, four counts of false imprisonment, and battery. He has no criminal convictions; he was charged with stabbing someone with a samurai sword in 2014, but the investigation found that the victim stabbed him first, so the charge was dropped. Judge Susanne Wilson Bullard ordered him held without bail on six of the charges, pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing and added to the bail of $52,500 on the other two charges.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
