Staff Report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Lorenzo Joshua Johnson Jr., a 22-year-old recently arrested for domestic battery and carjacking, now faces a staggering 40 additional charges for breaching his pre-trial release conditions. Authorities allege that from his jail cell, Johnson repeatedly called his victim—roughly 70 times over the course of a week—in a bid to persuade her to withdraw the charges against him.
Johnson’s initial arrest on January 4 stemmed from accusations of violently seizing a woman’s vehicle, striking her, and choking her. The following day, Judge Meshon Rawls, during his court appearance, explicitly prohibited Johnson from making any contact with the victim.
However, an investigation by an Alachua County Sheriff’s Detective revealed that Johnson, undeterred, swiftly took steps to circumvent this order. Following his First Appearance hearing, he reportedly reached out to a relative to obtain an alternative contact number for the victim, circumventing the jail’s phone restrictions. By 10:50 a.m. on January 5, Johnson had allegedly initiated contact and continued to call the victim, amassing a total of 70 calls within just seven days.
The Alachua County Jail permits inmates to make unlimited complimentary phone calls, a policy Johnson allegedly exploited. According to the detective’s findings, the tone of his calls was aggressive, urging the victim to retract her allegations due to his reluctance to return to prison. Johnson purportedly remarked, “I just got out of prison for the same type charges.” It is noted that he was released from prison on November 15, 2025.
According to the detective’s report, Johnson was allegedly hostile to the victim on these calls and told her to drop the charges because he did not want to go back to prison; he reportedly said, “I just got out of prison for the same type charges.” Johnson was released from prison on November 15, 2025.
Johnson has been charged with 40 counts of violating pre-trial release conditions. (Defendants are typically prohibited from contacting their victims until the case is resolved, whether they are in jail or out on bail; regardless of where the inmate is located, these prohibitions are referred to as “pre-trial release conditions.”) The detective asked the judge to limit phone and video visits to attorney use only, and Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered the jail to suspend all computer/telephone use and access except for attorney calls.
Johnson is a designated Violent Felony Offender of Special Concern who has six felony convictions (two violent) and one misdemeanor conviction (violent); he has served one four-year state prison sentence and was released in November 2025. He is on probation until November 2027 for two Alachua County cases.
Judge Susan Miller-Jones added $40,000 in bail ($1,000 per count) to his previous bail of $400,000.
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.
