Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jason Richard Hartmann, 47, was arrested early this morning on a warrant after an officer stopped him for riding a bicycle near closed businesses while wearing surgical gloves.
At about 3:48 a.m. on November 30, a Gainesville Police Department officer detained Hartmann, who was riding a bicycle directly next to several closed businesses in Tower Square (5801 SW 75th Street). Hartmann was reportedly wearing heavy clothing and blue surgical gloves. The officer noted that a jewelry store in the plaza was recently burglarized.
Hartmann reportedly told the officer that he uses the plaza as a shortcut to his residence and that the gloves were to keep warm, although he acknowledged that they did not work.
The officer learned that Hartmann had an active warrant for stealing jewelry in two separate incidents at JC Penney at the Oaks Mall in February. Hartmann was arrested for drug possession on May 5, and a store representative called the police on May 14 to say he had identified Hartmann as the thief from his booking photo.