Cantonment Man Charged With Burglarizing Three County-Owned Pickup Trucks

December 22, 2021

A Cantonment man is accused of burglarizing three county-owned pickup trucks.

Christopher Brian Gentry, 51, was charged with three counts of felony burglary, two counts of petit theft and criminal mischief with property damage.

Gentry allegedly burglarized three unlocked pickup trucks at the Escambia County Road Department in the 1600 block of East Nine Mile Road. It appeared that all three vehicles had been rummaged through, and the tool boxes on the vehicles were left open, according to an arrest report.

The county reported that a bolt cutter worth $30 and a $20 linesman pliers were missing. In addition, Gentry is accused of breaking off a gate lock valued at $10.

Gentry was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $45,000 bond.

Comments

17 Responses to “Cantonment Man Charged With Burglarizing Three County-Owned Pickup Trucks”

  1. Just Me on December 22nd, 2021 6:21 pm

    $60 in stolen property = $45K bond…just my take on this situation is the Judge had already seen this individual way too many times in the courtroom

  2. J.Larry Seale on December 22nd, 2021 4:26 pm

    just another “model” citizen
    for Escambia county………

  3. Ol' Skinny on December 22nd, 2021 1:42 pm

    No kidding Derek …. but if you’d followed the stories the rest of us are referring to you’d see that this bond was way off … maybe I should do some homework so I could understand it better?

  4. Jason on December 22nd, 2021 1:36 pm

    All these readers complaining about his bond should look at his prior record in Escambia County – 38 prior arrests since 2005. Add to it each charge carries its own bond just in case the State Attorney opts to dismiss a charge. If anything the bond should have been higher for this career thief.

  5. David Huie Green on December 22nd, 2021 1:23 pm

    REGARDING:
    “Am I missing something with that bond? His is $45k for $60 worth of junk, but in the article with the guy that stole an entire vehicle and sold it to a scrap yard only had a bond of $5k?”

    Imagine trying to rob a bank and getting caught.

    “But your honor, I didn’t manage to steal anything so you should not require bail.”

    Judges are SO unreasonable!! derek addressed it well, but the idea is still funny. I had a boat stolen once but the deputies (rightly) decided it wasn’t worth much anyway so they never bothered to investigate. That allowed the thief to continue.

    David for better people

  6. Denny on December 22nd, 2021 12:53 pm

    There are four idiots here: the burgler and the three county workers who are too lazy to lock the trucks to protect the equipment paid for with our taxpayer money.

  7. William Lingo on December 22nd, 2021 11:46 am

    Start cutting off the hands of these thieves and the problem will go away, I’ve seen it work!!!!

  8. Deborah Daugherty on December 22nd, 2021 11:29 am

    That look on his face is priceless

  9. Tim on December 22nd, 2021 11:11 am

    Goes to show how SCREWED UP the legal system is. $45,000 on $60.00 worth of probably Harbor Freight tools. Ridiculous!!!

  10. Taylon on December 22nd, 2021 11:01 am

    Maybe ole Chris is a repeat habitual offender _shrug_

    Even with the felony burglary charges his bond still doesn’t make sense to me based on other reported bonds. A few examples below from the last few months that should all include at least one Felony Burglary charge:

    $3,000 – http://www.northescambia.com/2021/10/mcdavid-man-allegedly-caught-without-his-pants-burglarizing-pensacola-energy-facility

    $10,000 – http://www.northescambia.com/2021/07/cantonment-man-charged-with-felony-burglary-with-battery-against-mother-of-his-child (includes violence too)

    $9,500 – http://www.northescambia.com/2021/08/man-charged-with-home-burglary-attempted-burglary-of-byrneville-community-center-arrested-after-manhunt

    And finally this guy had SEVEN charges of felony burglary

    $27,000 – http://www.northescambia.com/2021/09/man-charged-with-stealing-tools-from-unlocked-vehicles-at-town-of-century-shop

  11. Bewildered on December 22nd, 2021 10:48 am

    Aren’t bonds also based on your financial ability to pay? In Germany fines are based on income. Daily earnings of the individual is the measurement . Infractions are punished alike by everyone loosing the same number of days of their daily income If speeding calls for 3 days of income, you pay whatever you earn in 3 days. May sound weird, but a $1000 fine affects a person earning minimum wage a whole lot more than a Top $$$$ earner

  12. Susie on December 22nd, 2021 10:25 am

    Ol’ Skinny, there are guidelines for bond according to past criminal record, type of crime, etc. It’s not just an amount pulled out of the air, although some Judges go lower on the scale and some higher. It is a bit confusing for the general public. As you can tell though, Gentry has done this a couple times before and what was he doing stealing bolt cutters at the road prison? Glad the lowlife got caught.

  13. derek on December 22nd, 2021 9:58 am

    Burglary is a Felony, hence the bail

  14. Taylon on December 22nd, 2021 9:32 am

    Am I missing something with that bond? His is $45k for $60 worth of junk, but in the article with the guy that stole an entire vehicle and sold it to a scrap yard only had a bond of $5k?

    Heck, the convicted felon with the drug and weapon charges against her has a bond of only $17.5k (http://www.northescambia.com/2021/12/cantonment-woman-facing-drug-weapon-charges).

    I guess it’s the three separate charges of Felony Burglary that’s jacking up his bond? Maybe if he had committed Robbery (i.e. stealing directly form someone) instead of Burglary (i.e breaking into a place to steal from) he might have been better off.

    And for the record it’s not like I care what his bond is set at. I just wish it was more consistent across the board.

  15. What ?!?!?!? on December 22nd, 2021 8:15 am

    Ol’ Skinny:
    I agree wholeheartedly! The judicial laws/punishments are skewed badly!

  16. Ol' Skinny on December 22nd, 2021 7:21 am

    Let me be the first …. $45,000.00 bond? OMG! How many wife beaters and drunks have we seen with bonds set at a fraction of of this? I don’t get it…

  17. Bewildered on December 22nd, 2021 4:03 am

    Why would anyone who has $4,500 cash on hand (could bail out) burglarize vehicles?