Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jonathan Alexander Quino, 23, was arrested on September 5 after deputies said he took a friend’s Toyota without permission, crashed it into a pond near Celebration Pointe, and removed the vehicle’s license plate.
According to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy responded on September 1 to a hit-and-run crash and found a Toyota abandoned in a pond near Celebration Pointe. Witnesses reported that the driver ran north through the parking lot while carrying the tag, and the deputy said he saw a tall, slim Hispanic man fleeing the crash scene. The deputy ordered the man to stop, but he continued running. The Toyota’s tag was later found in the woods near the area where the man had fled, the report states.
The following day, the Toyota’s owner told investigators that she and Quino had been spending time at her apartment the night before the crash. Before she went to bed, she said, Quino told her he was waiting for someone to pick him up and take him home. She later woke to multiple calls informing her that her Toyota had been found in a pond near Celebration Pointe.
The victim said Quino was the only person who had access to her keys, but she had not given him permission to drive the car. She described him as a tall Hispanic man with curly black hair and told deputies he had written her an apology note, though she said she threw it away.
Deputies arrested Quino at his home in Hidden Oak Mobile Home Park on September 5. After being read his Miranda rights, he reportedly admitted taking the victim’s vehicle from her apartment without permission, crashing it, removing the tag, and running from the scene. He allegedly told deputies he fled because he was scared.
Quino has been charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, petit theft of the tag, tampering with evidence for removing the tag, and resisting an officer without violence.
The report notes that the Florida Highway Patrol handled the hit-and-run portion of the investigation, meaning additional charges may be pending.
Quino has no local criminal history, and Judge Sheree Lancaster ordered him released on his own recognizance.
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.
