Update: Gainesville Man Arrested Again After Fleeing from Prosecution and Going to Arkansas
On Monday, June 1, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) deputies arrested Blanton Neil Martin, 45, on charges of sending a written threat to kill or do bodily harm (felony) and cyber harassment (misdemeanor).
Deputy John Miller made contact with the victim at the station Sunday night, who was reportedly in visible distress due to threatening text messages sent by Martin.
The victim said she just recently met Martin at a coffee shop on Saturday and he initially appeared friendly so they exchanged numbers.
Later on, Martin sent the victim texts that made her feel uncomfortable and she told him to stop contacting her.
“Following this explicit command to cease contact, [Martin] continued to send persistent and bizarre messages,” reported Miller. “The communications quickly escalated to direct threats of death and severe bodily harm. I personally reviewed the text messages on the victim’s mobile phone. I observed a message from [Martin]'s phone number stating, ‘I am going to break your mind open and feed it to my wolves.’ I observed a second message targeting anyone in an intimate nature with the victim, stating, ‘If I catch you with another man I will put him in the fish fryer.’ [Martin] sent fourteen text messages to the victim after she advised him to not contact her, including the messages with the threats. The victim, in her sworn statement, advised she was very concerned for her safety and for the people around her to include her friends and family.”
Martin is held without bond pending a pretrial detention motion by the State Attorney’s Office.
Update | July 30:
On June 5, prosecutors notified the court they would not file for pretrial detention, prompting Judge James Colaw to set the bond at $150,000. Martin posted the bond soon after.
On June 17, Electronic Monitoring Officer Sean Moses received a text from Martin that said “Corrections: I am fleeing the south. Do not attempt to stop me. Or I will add that to the list of charges.”
Moses called Martin and asked him if he’d come back to Alachua County. Martin said he “may or may not.” Moses told Martin that if he doesn’t return he could be arrested again.
The following day, Martin texted Moses again, stating, “Tell the Sheriff I want my bogus charges dropped before I come back to corrupt Alachua County or there will be hell to pay.”
Martin was still wearing his ankle monitor when fleeing his charges, and it showed he went to Little Rock, Arkansas.
Colaw revoked Martin’s pretrial release status and ordered him to be arrested again.
On June 22, Martin’s sister emailed Judge James Colaw’s judicial assistant, stating, “[Martin] is currently in a psychosis state. He suffers from bi polar disorder and is currently unmedicated (his attorney has all of his mental health documents) and we have them as well. He is very paranoid and scared to go home and thinking if he returns to Gainesville the police will be waiting for him. He has not been sleeping or eating. He also thinks the FBI are following him. I am just hopeful Judge Colaw can take into account Blanton's mental health and instead of sending him back to jail… get him psychiatric help.”
On July 10, prosecutors formally filed a count of aggravated stalking, a felony, against Martin, enhancing what was previously a misdemeanor. They declined to formally file the written threat charge.
On July 29, Martin was booked into the Alachua County Jail again. If found guilty of aggravated stalking, Martin could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison.
