VCSO: Car Thieves Found Hiding In Bathroom Shower

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Daytona Beach, FL - A pair of 21-year-old Daytona Beach men end up back in Volusia County Jail after leading the Sheriff's Office to three stolen vehicles during a pursuit.

Shmar A. Gentle (left) and Demon K. Floyd (right) were taken into custody late Tuesday night after deputies found them hiding in the shower of a Daytona Beach home, according to the arrest report.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office says it all started around 11 o'clock that night when a deputy heading eastbound on International Speedway Boulevard near Nova Road spotted Gentle and Floyd in a black 2018 Mazda 3 heading the opposite direction on ISB.

After confirming the Mazda had been stolen out of Ormond Beach, the deputy U-turned on ISB, at which point the Mazda made an "abrupt turn" into the Krispy Kreme parking lot on the corner of Nova and ISB and then took off north on Nova at a "high rate of speed", per the report.

As the deputy flipped on his lights and sirens, VCSO's Air One helicopter - which the report shows happened to be flying through the area at the time - picked up the speeding Mazda as it went west on George W. Engram Boulevard from Nova and wove through side streets before parking behind a home on the 1300 block of Vine Street.

Air One's camera picked up Gentle & Floyd entering the home minutes before deputies arrived. Once consent was given by the 68-year-old homeowner, those deputies searched the home and found Gentle and Floyd "side by side" and "fully clothed" in the shower inside the home's rear bathroom.

As both men were handcuffed and placed in a patrol car, VCSO discovered two other stolen vehicles - a white 2013 Nissan Altima and a silver 2018 Ford Mustang - parked next to the Mazda. Both of those cars had been taken in Holly Hill, per the report.

When interviewed by VCSO, another resident at the Vine Street home claimed Gentle and Floyd told him they parked those vehicles at the back of the home to avoid repossessors.

Both men are charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling, resisting an officer and three counts of grand theft auto. Each are held on $166,000 bond at VCJ.

County jail records show Floyd had been booked there three times before since July 2016, including earlier this month on two counts of grand theft auto and tampering with evidence. He's also been charged in the past with grand theft of a firearm.

Gentle has been booked at VCJ twice before, including on a cocaine possession charge on May 31st for which he was out on bond at the time of this incident.