Gainesville Man Dodges Felony Conviction in Inmate Battery Case, Beats Police Assault Charge, 30 Months Probation
Victor Bruce has been sentenced to two and a half years of probation.
Bruce, who is related to numerous members of Ignite Life Center (ILC) church, spoke with GnvInfo six months ago. In the article, Bruce called for his uncle, ILC head pastor Mark Vega, to go to jail for covering up child sexual abuse. One week after the article was published, Bruce was Baker Acted and subsequently arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer. Bruce was later charged with battery by a detainee for battering another inmate while in the Alachua County Jail.
Bruce was potentially facing up to 20 years in prison between the two felony cases, with aggravated assault on police carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years and battery by a detainee carrying a maximum sentence of five years.
Bruce took a plea deal where the Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office (SAO8) dropped the police assault case, and he was granted a withheld adjudication for the battery by detainee charge and sentenced to 30 months of probation, court records show.
Judge David Kreider, who previously stated SAO8 “has a strong case” for police assault, accepted Bruce’s plea deal.
According to Bruce’s police report, his family members reported him to police for making concerning or threatening statements towards ILC members, but not any specific persons, prompting Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers to serve a Baker Act. The police report contains information that corresponds with Bruce’s Meridian intake form, which states Bruce’s cousin, Michel Rey, “reported to 911 that [Bruce] spontaneously stated, ‘Im going to shoot up the church.’” However during a civil risk protection hearing to revoke Bruce’s gun rights, Rey disclosed that he didn’t say the comment in a serious or threatening manner.
GPD Officer Dustin Johnson appeared as a witness at the civil hearing. While he wasn’t the official victim in Bruce’s police assault case, Johnson was present during the incident.
A city attorney asked Johnson what happened when officers placed Bruce under a Baker Act. Johnson stated, “I thought of a ruse. I told him we would be taking pictures of him as part of documentation before we left and part of that is ‘Can you put your hands up for me?’ So he does that and we grab him and once we do that, that’s when we tried to place him in handcuffs for the Baker Act. He’s resisting by pulling away from us, tensing up, being uncooperative.”
Bruce was initially denied bond but released from jail in June because SAO8 failed to file any charges in his police assault case and he posted a $5,000 bond in his inmate battery case.
Bruce’s probation conditions prevent him from making contact with the victim in his inmate battery case, Joshua Terrell, which shouldn’t be an issue because they didn’t know each other outside the jail and Terrell is currently incarcerated in a psychiatric facility.
Terrell was facing charges for sending a written threat to kill and sexual battery against a minor, but he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. However, court documents show that healthcare workers say he is “now competent to proceed” after receiving medication, and he has a competency hearing set for next month.
Under the conditions of his probation, Bruce is not allowed to own or possess weapons or firearms.
In his teenage years, Bruce participated in the Mariano Rivera Foundation (MRF) youth mentorship program that was partnered with ILC.
