Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Zabyon Cordell James, 19, and Edward James Slatter Jr., 20, have been charged with loitering and prowling after deputies investigating a stolen vehicle encountered the pair late at night.
At approximately 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, an Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy responded to the 4500 block of SE 2nd Place, where authorities had located a stolen white Nissan. The vehicle had reportedly been taken during a series of vehicle burglaries reported the previous night.
Before the Nissan was recovered, Gainesville Police Department officers said it had been spotted on SE 43rd Street. Law enforcement searched the surrounding area until the vehicle was found facing east on SE 2nd Place. It was still running and in Drive.
A citizen had earlier reported that the Nissan was occupied by three or four Black males, one of whom was armed. The caller described one person as wearing gray sweatpants and a black jacket.
After the stolen car was located, a deputy encountered James and Slatter walking north in the 100 block of NE 47th Street. Both were wearing black hooded jackets, and James was wearing gray sweatpants.
According to the deputy’s report, the two men said a girlfriend had dropped them off at Eastwood Meadows and that they were walking to a convenience store. The deputy noted that it was 11:49 p.m. and that no stores were open in that direction “for dozens of miles.”
While the deputy spoke with them, one of the men reportedly said their ride had just arrived. The vehicle stopped, but its driver was an area resident who said he did not know either man.
The pair then reportedly said they had been mistaken and believed the driver was one of their girlfriends. The deputy described both men as nervous and sweating. When asked whether they lived nearby, each said he did not.
A K-9 team later tracked a scent from the stolen Nissan to the location where the deputy had encountered James and Slatter. The deputy then detained both men.
After being read their Miranda rights, James initially repeated that his girlfriend had dropped them off at Eastwood Meadows and that they were headed to a store. When the deputy told him a caller had described his clothing, James reportedly acknowledged that he had been inside the stolen vehicle with Slatter. He said he ran from the car because police were following. James reportedly did not answer, or could not answer, questions about who had been driving, whether anyone in the vehicle had a firearm, and why they were traveling in a stolen car.
During an interview with a GPD officer, James reportedly said he had been in a different vehicle belonging to his girlfriend. He later changed that account, according to the report.
As James was escorted to a patrol vehicle, the deputy pointed toward the stolen Nissan and asked where he had been sitting. James reportedly replied that he had been seated on the rear passenger side.
Slatter denied being involved and said there was no evidence he had been inside the vehicle. While being taken to jail, however, he reportedly changed his story and said he had been walking when he encountered James.
The two men reportedly provided several different versions of events during interviews with Gainesville police.
The men’s girlfriends later arrived and reportedly told deputies they had not seen either man since the pair left one girlfriend’s home on SW 20th Avenue roughly an hour earlier. One girlfriend said the men had left in a black car. The deputy wrote that the statements contradicted the men’s accounts of why they were on the east side of Gainesville, how they got there and whether they had been together before encountering law enforcement.
The deputy wrote that the men had lied about their activities and that James had admitted being inside the Nissan and fleeing from police. The deputy concluded there was probable cause to charge both men with loitering and prowling because the stolen vehicle had been connected to “numerous” burglaries and the pair were found in an area unfamiliar to them without providing a credible explanation for their presence.
The deputy’s report states that both men were on probation. Court documents, however, indicate that only Slatter is currently on probation.
The Gainesville Police Department’s investigation into the vehicle burglaries remains ongoing.
James faces a loitering and prowling charge. He has a juvenile conviction from 2023 but no adult criminal history. Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered him released on his own recognizance and required him to submit 20 job applications each week until he finds employment.
Slatter has been charged with loitering/prowling. He has juvenile convictions between 2022 and 2024 and two adult felony convictions (two violent); he is on probation. Judge Miller-Jones set bail at $5,000.
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.
