Florida guard Erving Walker arrested for allegedly stealing taco from street vendor

Erving Walker, less than one week after finishing his senior season on the Florida basketball team, was arrested early this morning for allegedly stealing a taco and running from police.

He was given a notice to appear and charged with petty theft (retail) and resisting an officer without violence, both misdemeanors. He was not jailed.

Gainesville Police Department spokesperson Angelina Valuri said Walker was arrested at around 1 a.m. today.

According to the arrest report, Walker ordered a $3 taco from a street vendor downtown, received the food, then ran away without paying. When a police officer caught up with him and yelled for him to stop, Walker kept going, the report said.

The arresting officer finally caught Walker with help from “several marked patrol cars.” When the police reached Walker, he told them he was “just playing around,” the report said. The officer wrote that Walker “stated when he ran off with the taco he knew that he had not paid for it and that he was stealing food.”

His only prior misdemeanor in Alachua County was for resisting an officer without violence in 2008. He pleaded nolo contendre and received deferred prosecution.

Valuri said the taco vender was at 100 South Main Street, and Walker ran roughly three blocks to 200 West University Avenue.

The report does not mention any involvement of alcohol or drugs.

He is scheduled to appear in court April 19 at 9 a.m.

Walker was a four-year player for the Gators and started at point guard the past three seasons. As a senior, he averaged 12.1 points and 4.6 assists per game while helping Florida reach the Elite Eight.

He is first in program history in assists with 547, fourth in points with 1,777 and ninth in steals with 159.