A 25-year-old man is facing kidnapping, carjacking and stalking charges after deputies say he hid in the backseat of his ex-girlfriend's unlocked car at a Publix, then grabbed her and drove off with her still partly inside the vehicle when she returned from her lunch break. Carlo Williams was arrested Tuesday following a high-risk traffic stop in Alachua County, and he remained held at the Alachua County Jail as of Wednesday afternoon.
According to NJ.com, the woman was on her lunch break when she returned to her car after shopping at a Publix and, per the report citing WFLA, drove toward work without realizing Williams was hiding inside. She reportedly noticed movement in the backseat after driving over a speed bump, then screamed upon seeing her ex-boyfriend behind her. Williams allegedly grabbed her hair as she tried to exit the car and took her phone during the ensuing struggle, the outlet reports.
Williams then allegedly gained control of the vehicle and drove it back to the Publix parking lot, where the woman was dragged outside the car while he was still driving it, according to the report. She managed to break free and ran back to her job to call police, while Williams fled the parking lot in his own vehicle, leaving her car behind.
A Three-Month Pattern of Threats, Sheriff's Office Says
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that Williams was subject to an active court injunction barring him from contacting the woman, and that he had sent her numerous threatening messages over the preceding three months. Deputies began following Williams after receiving real-time intelligence, and the sheriff's office says the incident occurred in Jonesville in the 14000 block of NW 1st Road. Deputies caught up with him around 3 p.m. on West Newberry Road, using a controlled vehicle intervention to end the high-risk traffic stop and take him into custody.
Jail booking records show Williams was booked into the Alachua County Jail on August 11 on five counts: unarmed carjacking, robbery by sudden snatching, aggravated stalking after a no-contact order, burglary with assault or battery, and kidnapping.
Why the Charges Carry Life-Sentence Exposure
Under Florida Statute 810.02, entering someone's vehicle without permission and committing a battery inside escalates a simple burglary to burglary with a battery, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. Florida's kidnapping statute, 787.01, similarly classifies forcibly confining or abducting someone against their will with intent to commit a felony or inflict bodily harm as a first-degree felony carrying a potential life sentence.
The stalking allegation also carries added weight because of the prior injunction. Florida Statute 784.048 automatically elevates repeated stalking or harassment committed after a court has issued a protective injunction from a first-degree misdemeanor to aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Meanwhile, unarmed carjacking under Florida Statute 812.133 is ranked a Level 7 first-degree felony under the state's Criminal Punishment Code, carrying a mandatory minimum baseline sentence of 21 months and a maximum of up to 30 years in state prison.
Local Agencies Have Been Focused on Domestic Violence Response
Quarterly crime data discussed by the Gainesville Police Department this month, as reported by the Alachua Chronicle, revealed that law enforcement agencies across Alachua County held joint meetings earlier this year with victim advocacy groups, including Peaceful Paths and the State Attorney's Office, focused on a coordinated regional response to domestic violence. This case underscores a persistent challenge those efforts are meant to address: an existing court order did not stop the alleged threats or the confrontation at the Publix, according to the sheriff's office account.
The scope of the problem is significant statewide and nationally. National survey data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this year found that more than 1 in 5 women in the United States, or 22.5%, experience stalking in their lifetime, with nearly all female stalking survivors reporting safety concerns or fear. In Florida specifically, data compiled by the Florida Sheriffs Association shows that roughly 37.9% of women experience intimate partner physical violence, sexual violence, or stalking at some point in their lives.
Several questions remain unresolved. It is not yet known whether the Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office has filed formal prosecutorial charges beyond the initial jail booking counts, what the outcome of Williams's bond hearing has been, or the current status of the victim's physical injuries. As with any criminal case, the charges against Williams remain allegations that have not been proven in court.
