Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Lorenzo Keandre Smith, age 28, was taken into custody yesterday after he reportedly hurled a large stone paver at the glass door of a downtown restaurant that was occupied at the time.

According to a Gainesville Police Department officer, at approximately 1:47 p.m. on May 25, Smith grabbed what appeared to be the corner segment of a stone paver (measuring roughly 12 inches by 6 inches and weighing over 11 pounds) and launched it at the glass entrance of The Florida Room, located at 2 W. University Avenue, while the establishment was open and hosting patrons.

The impact reportedly caused the glass door to shatter, and the officer remarked that the paver was “clearly large and heavy enough to potentially result in death or significant injury if it had hit a customer inside the venue.”

Post Miranda, Smith reportedly said he would make statements in court about why he threw the paver at the business. When asked if he knew there were people inside, he reportedly said he did and that he saw people behind the glass before he threw the paver. He then refused to say anything else.

Smith, whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has been charged with throwing a deadly missile into an occupied building. His full criminal history is unavailable, but he has served two state prison sentences; the first was for four felonies (three violent) out of Orange County, and the last was for battery on a detainee in the Alachua County Jail; he was released on February 10, 2025, after serving a sentence of a year and a week in state prison. Judge Luis Bustamante set bail at $50,000.

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.