Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Joshuia Bernard Jenkins, 36, was arrested early Thursday after authorities accused him of taking 18 novelty lighters from a Gainesville smoke shop. He was released from the Alachua County Jail on September 30.
A Gainesville Police Department officer was dispatched to Smokeville Smoke Shop at 1122 W. University Avenue around 2:50 a.m. on October 2. An employee told police that Jenkins entered the business, began speaking with him, then allegedly seized 18 novelty lighters from a nearby display and headed for the exit.
The employee said he shouted for Jenkins to stop, but Jenkins left the store carrying the lighters. Each lighter was valued at approximately $20, putting the total reported loss at $360.
Officers arrived several minutes later and reportedly located Jenkins near the business. Police said he was carrying a brown bag with lighters visible through the open top.
Jenkins reportedly acknowledged entering the shop but told officers the lighters had been given to him for free. When asked whether he had paid for them, he allegedly said he had not.
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Jenkins, who court records have identified as homeless since at least 2023, faces a felony charge of petit theft, third or subsequent offense.
He was also arrested in April and July of this year. On September 23, he was found competent to stand trial, and on September 30, he was released after pleading nolo contendere to felony petit theft and property damage. Court documents said the charges carried a maximum possible sentence of six years in prison. Instead, Judge Denise Ferrero ordered three months of community control, or house arrest, followed by one year of probation. The records do not identify where Jenkins is expected to live during community control. Since 2024, his arrest reports have listed an address at a home in the Bartram Woods subdivision near Royal Park. In a letter to a judge in July, Jenkins said he stole from Publix to help his grandmother pay rent and wrote, “I will make sure… this doesn’t happen again.”
Jenkins has 11 felony convictions, including two involving violence, and 25 misdemeanor convictions, five of which were violent offenses. He has served two state prison sentences and was most recently released in 2021. He is currently on community control. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $20,000 on the latest charges; court records do not show that he has been charged with violating probation.
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.
