Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Damon Jacob Henry Worth, 28, from Hawthorne, was taken into custody yesterday, accused of robbery and mistreatment of a disabled individual. The charges stem from an incident where Worth allegedly offered to transport a disabled man to the hospital from Hawthorne, but instead left him stranded on the side of Archer Road in Gainesville after taking $300 from his wallet.

An investigation by a Gainesville Police Department Detective revealed that on May 17, Worth and an associate volunteered to drive the victim to the hospital for a hand injury. During the journey, they halted in the 2300 block of Old Archer Road. There, Worth is said to have forcibly removed the victim from the vehicle, inflicting further injuries to his arms, and then took possession of his wallet. It is alleged that Worth extracted around $300 in cash before discarding the rest of the wallet’s contents on the ground.

The victim recounted to the officer on the scene that Worth declared, “Now you’ve been robbed,” and then deserted him by the roadside without any resources to seek assistance or get transport.

The victim said he crawled under a tree and sat there for a couple of hours before noticing the fire station across the street; he went to the fire station and was transported to a hospital. After the victim was treated, an officer took him back to where he was left on the side of the road, and the contents of his wallet were reportedly found on the ground.

On June 5, the detective spoke to the driver by phone, and she confirmed that she had taken the victim to Gainesville that day; she said that during the trip, Worth and the victim began “arguing” and Worth threw the victim’s wallet out the window. She said she did not know why Worth would do that to “an old man” and said at first that Worth did not take any money from the victim but then said she was driving and was not sure.

The driver reportedly said she took the victim all the way to the hospital, which contradicted statements from the firefighters and their record of transporting the victim to the hospital. When the detective told the driver about the inconsistency, she reportedly became defensive and said she actually did not know anything about the victim or the incident. The detective reported that the driver “yelled she felt she was being accused of stealing.”

Worth has been charged with robbery and abuse of a disabled person. He has four felony convictions (one violent) and five misdemeanor convictions (none violent); he has served one state prison sentence and was released on March 5, 2025. Judge Kristine Van Vorst ordered him held without bail on the robbery charge, 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 $100,000 bail set by Judge Van Vorst on the abuse charge.

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.