Gainesville doors kicked in, homes burglarized

Police release surveillance photo of bandit

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Police are looking for a man seen kicking in doors and burglarizing at least three homes in Northwest Gainesville this week.

Gary Geniesse said he came home Wednesday to find his front door busted and a large screen television, electronics and other items stolen.

"When I got here, the cops were already here. My neighborhood called it in," Geniesse said.

Residents worried about boldness of the bandit.

"It's a pretty brazen act," Gainesville Public Information Officer Ben Tobias said. "However, most criminals will attack during daylight because they know most people are not home."

Geniesse was home Thursday getting his door replaced.

"The frame on the other side of the door was split to pieces. We got a steel door, and I thought that was safe," he said.

WATCH: Gainesville police release surveillance video of home burglar

At another house several miles away, a surveillance camera recorded the door being kicked in.

"We think he was ringing doorbells at the place he broke into, and he may have been ringing doorbells in that area (Wednesday) morning," Tobias said.

Police want people to look closely at the surveillance video of the bandit to see if they can identify the man and may have seen him in the neighborhood. The burglar was described as a black man between 30 and 40 years old, between 5 feet 5 and 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a baseball cap and a Michigan State Spartans' sweatshirt and driving a Honda Civic.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Gainesville Police Department at 352-393-7500 or Crime Stoppers at 


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Jim Piggott is the reporter to count on when it comes to city government and how it will affect the community.