Solar Consultants LLC Title Manager Arrested for Domestic Violence
Editor’s Notes: This article contains a slur in a quote from the defendant, but it is omitted with a “*” symbol.
Gainesville Police Department officers arrested Joseph Bernard Lane, 41, Monday and charged him with misdemeanor domestic battery.
According to the arrest report, the victim was sitting down and recording Lane because he made her concerned for her safety. Lane spoke to the victim for several minutes, but she was not responsive. Lane then slapped the phone out of the victim’s hands and picked it up.
The victim attempted to get her phone back, but Lane reportedly restrained her by holding her shoulders. Lane eventually threw the phone to the side and walked away, prompting the victim to pick it up and call 911.
Officer Brandon Vidal watched the video taken by the victim and reported that it showed Lane squatting down in front of her and trying to talk to her while she was sitting down. The video reportedly ends with Lane standing up and smiling before slapping the phone out of her hands. The video became shaky as the phone tumbled.
When police arrived, Lane reportedly stated spontaneously that he “took the victim’s phone away from her while she was holding it.”
In his police interview, after being read his Miranda rights, Lane accused the victim of following him with the camera and recording in his face, and said that was why he took the phone. When confronted about the video, Lane “switched his story several times about whether he took the phone from the victim or he slapped it out of her hands,” the arrest report states.
While being transported to jail, Lane referred to GPD with a homophobic slur, calling them a “bunch of fa**ots who can’t get a real job,” the arrest report states. Lane called himself a victim despite saying he slapped the phone and told Vidal he would be "receiving a phone call from the Department of Homeland Security" but did not specify why.
Lane was released from the Alachua County Jail after posting a $2,000 bond set by Judge Susan Miller-Jones.
According to his LinkedIn, Lane serves as the title manager of Solar Consultants LLC, a business in Gainesville. However, Lane is not the formal owner of the business, with records showing Zachary Street is the official registered agent.
The Solar Consultants LinkedIn and Facebook has a website link that directs users to a page with no results found. However, the website is viewable through Internet Archive.
When it was still active, the website said Solar Consultants was founded by Lane in 2017. The page says they’ve had business in the Southeastern United States, Central America and Brazil.
The website states Lane has “been involved in a multitude of solar installation projects across the state.”
