A reported stolen vehicle was found on the second floor of Parking Garage 44 last Thursday afternoon, leading to the arrest of 26-year-old Malik Billings on charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, petit theft and fraud, according to a University Police Department (UPD) report.

UPD was searching a vehicle in response to finding an Infiniti QX60 that was reported stolen July 5, when they noticed a “suspicious person” holding a Panda Express bag was watching them investigate, UPD wrote.

Authorities approached Billings, asking him why he was standing there, to which he responded that he was waiting for a friend to pick him up, said the report. Billings is not a student at the University of North Florida (UNF), and UPD further questioned him about how he arrived at UNF’s campus and where he lived. 

Billings allegedly told UPD officers he lived on Lane Avenue, to which officers noted the vehicle they were investigating was reported stolen from a location on Lane Avenue.

During a pat-down for weapons, officers found a Capital One Savor Card in Billings’ back pocket, with the name of the person whose vehicle was reported stolen, UPD wrote. UPD officers later went to the Panda Express in the Student Union to ask employees if Billings had been there. Employees said that a person matching Billings’ description had tried to purchase a meal with a Capital One Savor Card, but it had been declined, UPD wrote.

Officers then began to place Billings in the back of their patrol vehicle and asked him to take off his shoes. Billings allegedly resisted removing his shoes, and when an officer removed them, UPD “observed the key to the stolen vehicle fall from the subject’s shoe,” according to the report.

While searching the vehicle, officers found a loaded semi-automatic pistol in the rear compartment of the vehicle, read the report. Billings is a convicted felon for aggravated battery, making it illegal for him to own a gun, according to UPD. If the gun is later found to be his, Billings could be convicted for possessing the weapon. 

Billings was arrested and transported to Duval PTDF for processing.