Man Arrested for Robbery with Firearm While Drunk
Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers arrested Randy Harry Simmons, 21, Monday night and charged him with using a firearm under the influence of alcohol, robbery with a firearm, aggravated battery and resisting an officer without violence.
According to the arrest report, the 66-year-old victim told police she was attacked and robbed in the pool area of her apartment complex. The victim later required dozens of stitches to her head and hands.
The victim identified the suspect as a Black man wearing a gray hoodie and said he stole her gold ring from her hand.
While police were on the scene, they received a call about a man matching the suspect’s description hiding underneath a pickup truck and armed with two pistols.
The arrest report states Simmons “was ordered to surrender to police detention, but [he] resisted by ignoring numerous commands to get on the ground. Once detained, [Simmons] was transported to GPD. [Simmons] was found to have smeared blood on his left leg and blood on one of the guns found in his possession (the .45 caliber pistol). All blood is believed to be the victim’s blood due to [Simmons] not having any fresh bleeding wounds.”
A witness who was in Simmons’ apartment told police she exited the residence to see him next to the victim while she was on the ground yelling.
GPD Detective Matthew Quinn reported that Simmons “stated he has been drinking heavy amounts of alcohol tonight. He confirmed he was in possession of both of his firearms tonight upon his arrest. He confirmed that he was angry with his girlfriend tonight. He was standing near the pool area in the apartment complex when the victim started to record him. The victim did not tell him anything but was just recording him with her cell phone (in a public area) which upset [Simmons]. He does not remember attacking the victim but does agree he likely did. He agreed that the blood LEO found on his gun likely belongs to the victim. [Simmons] complained of injury to his hand (likely due to him striking the victim numerous times with the pistol butt).”
Simmons has no bond pending a pretrial detention motion by the State Attorney’s Office.
