Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Collin Lydal Battershell, 38, was arrested early this morning for allegedly taking a phone belonging to a Krispy Kreme employee.

At around 3:23 a.m. on September 22, an officer from the Gainesville Police Department responded to a call from Krispy Kreme located at 310 NW 13th Street. An employee reported that while she was cleaning the lobby, a man took her phone and left. She discovered the phone was missing immediately after the man departed and called her own number using a colleague’s phone. The individual who answered her call refused to return the phone.

Officers found Battershell a short time later at the Gate gas station (506 NW 13th Street).

After being read his Miranda rights, Battershell initially requested the presence of a lawyer. However, once handcuffed, he claimed there was a misunderstanding and wanted to explain himself. The officer asked him again to forgo his right to legal counsel, and he agreed. Battershell first stated that he never possessed the phone, but later admitted to having “found” it inside Krispy Kreme. He explained he panicked when it rang because the caller identified it as her phone and mentioned her parents worked for the government. In his panic, he threw the phone away and ran. Battershell argued he shouldn’t be charged with theft since he no longer had the phone and believed it was “abandoned” when he took it.

The arrest report does not state whether the phone was found.

Battershell, who is registered at GRACE Marketplace, faces charges of grand theft. His record includes two non-violent felony convictions and eight non-violent misdemeanor convictions. Judge Meshon Rawls set his bail at $10,000.

News reports on arrests are sourced from law enforcement documentation. The charges mentioned derive from arrest records and/or court documents and are only accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.