Gainesville- A 19-year old woman was raped behind 101 Cantina on West University Avenue in midtown Gainesville early Thursday morning. Initial reports were that two employees of the bar/restaurant broke up the incident. These reports were not untrue, however, they left out the fact that one of these heroes was University of Florida walk-on linebacker Cristian Garcia.
Garcia, who works security at 101 Cantina, spotted the rape while taking out the garbage and “saw a man pressing the woman up against the dumpster.” The suspect told Garcia that the female was his girlfriend but Garcia soon realized that the woman was unconscious. Garcia continued, “I pulled the guy by the shoulder and said ‘get off.'” Garcia said the suspect, also intoxicated, threw punches at him before slipping and busting his face against a wall.
The rape occurred at 2:20 AM Thursday morning, and police announced that Christopher Lee Shaw had been detained by the end of the day with the help of surveillance video.
Although Shaw admitted to “making out” with the woman, he denied any sexual contact happened, which Gainesville Police Department officers say was completely contradicted by the video.
Shaw was booked in the Alachua County Jail, with his bond placed at $500,000. GPD officers “have reason to believe” that Shaw may have raped other women and anyone with any information is asked to come forward and contact GPD Detective Cpl. Amanda Prince at 352-393-7618, or anonymously report rape at http://www.reportrapegainesville.org.
Cristian Garcia is a redshirt junior linebacker for the University of Florida football team who appeared in one game in 2015.
(information from the Gainesville Sun was used in this article)