Sheriff: Florida ‘Joker’ Arrested for Ditching GPS Tracker Day After Release from Prison

Albert Lee Gardner
Hernando County Sheriff's Office

A Florida man accused of removing his ankle monitor was rearrested the day after being freed from prison.

The man’s nine-year prison sentence was for lewd and lascivious battery regarding a young victim who was 12 to 15 years of age at the time, Fox News reported Friday.

On July 7, 29-year-old Albert Lee Gardner was released from prison but was arrested again on July 8 when his ankle monitor was discovered lying in a trash can at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Brooksville.

An image shows Gardner, who appears to have striking tattoos on his face:

The Florida "Joker" — 29-year-old Albert Gardner — cut off his GPS tracker and overdosed on narcotics the day after…

Posted by WEAR ABC 3 News, Pensacola on Tuesday, July 18, 2023

When a probation officer noticed the device had been in the same spot for quite a long period of time, the officer called deputies with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

The outlet noted Gardner had been placed on more than five years of supervised release.

Meanwhile, Fox 11 reported Tuesday Gardner is also known as “Joker” in court documents that date back to when he was 18.

“Florida’s own Joker also has guilty adjudications going back to 2012 for various charges, like criminal mischief, burglary, possession of paraphernalia, battery, theft and driving without a valid license, according to records,” the article reads.

After his ankle monitor was found, deputies were notified of an overdose incident at an apartment building. When they arrived at the scene, they located Gardner, who had reportedly taken an “unknown narcotic.”

They used Narcan to revive him and he was eventually cleared at a local hospital. “Gardner was booked without bond and charged with violating probation, along with tampering with an electronic monitoring device,” Fox reported.

In December, a Florida police officer overdosed when she was accidentally exposed to fentanyl. However, fellow officers used Narcan to save her life, Breitbart News reported.

WATCH: Fellow Officers Save the Life of Florida Police Officer Exposed to Fentanyl

Tavares Police Department / LOCAL NEWS X / TMX

“Narcan is the brand name for a life-saving nasal spray that contains naloxone, which is used to reverse the effects of a potentially fatal opioid drug overdose,” Breitbart News said.

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