Darius Phillips, 20, was arrested on the 1400 block of SW 42nd Street on Wednesday morning around 8:30 am on charges of domestic battery and grand theft auto. Phillips was sitting in the car of an officer who was just finishing a midnight shift. Officers were planning to escort him to a different car and drive him to jail but he ran away in the process of making the switch. “I just lost control of him,” explained Officer Luke Hogan. “Twelve straight hours on the job and seven doughnuts later, I could barely keep track of myself, let alone a criminal.”
Phillips then headed south, but officers were unable to find him. According to Gainesville Police Department spokeswoman Cpl. Angelina Valuri, he was seen near the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center on Southwest 34th Street. He was probably trying to pose a Hilton guest or conference member, but his frantic demeanor and handcuffs were a dead giveaway.
Around 10:00 am, UF sent a text and email alert to students, warning them of the escapee. “When I got a text in the morning, I was worried I slept through my exam,” said sophomore Tina Davis. “I was relieved to find out it was only a suspect loose on campus.”
University Police detained Phillips around 7:30 pm by the New Physics Building. Eleven hours later, his escape was finally over. “After eating at the Gator Dining Hall and sitting in on an Advanced Physics class, I was almost ready to go to jail,” said Phillips. “Jail food probably can’t get much worse than that.”
