An Ocala teen is in jail, charged with breaking into at least seven cars and stealing two more to go on a wild cross-state joyride with a friend.
Ocala Police say Donna Kalvaitis was one of 18-year-old Dylan Gentry’s victims.
"I got to the car and saw all this mess inside, and thought uh-oh," Donna Kalvaitis said.
Police say Gentry and a friend wanted to go to a weekend boxing match near Fort Lauderdale. They spent Friday night going through several unlocked cars at the Magnolia Place Apartments, hoping to find keys. A witness spotted Gentry with a knife trying to break into the office. Police say they left with $10 in change and a pair of shoes.
They still didn’t have a car, so they went to the Paddock Villas, where police say they stole an F-250 truck, finding it unlocked with the keys inside.
“They drove it south to Pasco County where they ran out of gas, and made contact with a road ranger there. They asked the road ranger to use his cell phone to call some of their relatives,” Ocala Police Detective Shawn Hardman said.
The road ranger’s assistance came just hours before the truck was reported stolen. Police say they ditched that truck and later on they were back on the road, this time stealing a Mercedes from a Lakeland garage.
Their hopes of making the Broward County boxing match came up a couple of gallons short.
“Before the police came I guess his accomplice saw them and took off, so Dylan is left in the street pushing the Mercedes when Palm Beach deputy arrives,” Detective Hardman said.
Police matched Gentry’s fingerprints to the apartment community where it all started. Detective Hardman drove the same path down I-75 to get the 18-year-old’s confession.
“I asked him why would you do all this? And he said he was bored,” Detective Hardman said.
Now Gentry is spending his time in jail in the Palm Beach County jail, held on $2,000 bond.