Staff Report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A 25-year-old man, Shedrick Deonte Weston, found himself in police custody yesterday, accused of igniting a bag of candy at a Gate store near the University of Florida campus.
At approximately 9:16 a.m. on April 28, officers from the Gainesville Police Department were dispatched to the Gate location at 506 NW 13th Street. The store manager relayed that employees had observed a suspicious individual, identified as a black male, wandering through the aisles. Soon after, smoke was spotted emanating from a display, where a bag of Skittles Gummies was discovered ablaze. The manager extinguished the fire and reviewed the store’s surveillance footage. The video allegedly captured the individual setting the candy on fire. The manager then observed the suspect exiting the premises and promptly contacted emergency services.
According to the police report, surveillance footage depicted the suspect igniting the candy and then leisurely browsing through the store. The officer disseminated the suspect’s description and a still image from the surveillance video to fellow officers for assistance in identification.
A store clerk recounted to the officer that she noticed smoke and then flames, prompting her to alert the manager. She recalled seeing the suspect casually walking away from the scene of the fire, holding a “moonpie” as if intending to purchase it, only to eventually place it on the counter without buying it. The clerk mentioned that the man was mumbling incoherently, claiming that people were attempting to harm him.
Another witness corroborated the story, mentioning that after the fire was detected, she observed the suspect meandering through the store, clutching a “moonpie” in one hand and a white lighter in the other.
GPD officers located Weston at Gator Beverage (1126 W. University Ave.), and the second witness reportedly identified him as the man she had seen inside the Gate store.
Post Miranda, Weston reportedly said he was trying to go to Gator Beverage and the fire scared him. When the officer asked whether he had been at Gate, he asked what the date was; when the officer gave him the date, he said “they” set the bag of candy on fire, and it scared him. When the officer asked who set the fire, Weston reportedly started mumbling to himself.
The officer asked whether it was possible that he had set a bag of candy on fire at Gate, and Weston reportedly began crying uncontrollably and said, “You got me.” When the officer asked Weston if he had a white lighter on him, Weston reportedly nodded yes.
Weston has been charged with first-degree arson. Although his address is listed as Ocala, a sworn complaint for cyber harassment was filed against him in Alachua County in 2022 but later dropped, and he was arrested in 2023 for shoplifting from the Maa & Paa Store, but that case can no longer be found in the court system. He has two felony convictions (one violent) and four misdemeanor convictions (two violent), and Judge Meshon Rawls ordered a mental health evaluation and ordered him held without bail 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.
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.
