A Gainesville man has been accused of stealing a small refrigerator from a probation office to destroy one of his own urine samples.
Devin Anthony Perry, 26, of 4117 SW 20th Ave., was arrested and charged with arson, destroying evidence, burglary and larceny. The charges are connected with a break-in at the Department of Corrections Probation and Parole office at 7020 NW 11th Place between 2 a.m and 5 a.m. Sunday. It is the same office that Perry reported to on Friday to provide a urine sample that tested positive for drug use, according to Alachua County Sheriff's Office spokesman Art Forgey.
Based on evidence at the scene, statements by Perry and information from probation officers, Sheriff's Office investigators pieced together the following series of events.
After realizing that his sample tested positive, Perry went to the office, shot out a window to get inside and removed the locked refrigerator used to store samples. After leaving the office, Perry picked up shards of window glass that had his blood on it and set the shrubbery beneath the window on fire.
Probation officers who arrived at the office shortly before dawn saw the smoldering shrubs and called deputies, and then provided investigators with a list of those who may have had a reason to want a stored sample destroyed. Investigators began tracking down the potential suspects.
At Perry's home the investigators looked into a trash bin and found shards of glass with blood on them wrapped inside clothing believed to have been Perry's. The refrigerator had not been found by Monday morning.
State records show Perry was sentenced to probation until 2018 for multiple drug convictions, including possession and sale of Marijuana and cocaine. On Monday morning, he was being held at the Alachua County Jail.
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