At this point, it’s well known that crazy things happen in Florida, but this story certainly takes the cake. Imagine casually walking into a gas station expecting to buy a soda or bag of chips, but instead, you leave out with a heavy grade weapon? What kind of luck is that?!
Well, in the case of Chance Byron and Damari Dennis, a lucky find quickly turned into jail time after the duo was arrested and hit with a rack of criminal charges connected to a Aug. 29 incident.
Surveillance footage showed an unnamed Florida deputy entering a RaceTrac in Oviedo, Fla. to handle his “business.” According to The Tampa Bay Times, the officer took off his bulletproof vest and gun belt while in the restroom, and somehow his pistol slipped out.
“After leaving the RaceTrac and responding to a call for service, [the deputy] discovered his gun was missing from his gun belt, so he returned to the RaceTrac to check the restroom,” officials said. “He did not see it in the restroom.”
By the time the deputy left the RaceTrac and returned to search for his weapon, suspects Byron, 26, and Dennis, 23, pulled up to the gas station and stumbled upon the weapon allegedly tucked in a toilet paper roll in the restroom, per the Daily Mail.
Surveillance footage showed the two men walking out of the convenient store with Bryon clearly hiding a bulge on his waist. But oh no...that wasn’t the end of this Florida fairytale.
The duo would go on to sell the deputy’s weapon through CashApp for a measly $40, according to the Independent. The weapon — really worth $600 — has since been safely recovered by authorities.
Dennis and Byron “stated they did not attempt to contact law enforcement or inform the employees of the RaceTrac gas station that they located a firearm in the restroom,” officials said.
After the pair was tracked down and arrested at their homes, Byron was quick to tell authorities it was Dennis who first noticed and picked up the weapon, per WFTV. After confessing to taking the weapon, Bryon was charged with grand theft of a firearm, failure to report lost or abandoned property, and dealing in stolen property.
Dennis, who police say is a “violent felon” with a history of showing off his love for guns on social media, was charged with 13 counts including grand larceny of a firearm, dealing in stolen property, and possession of a weapon by a convicted Florida felon. He was on probation at the time of the incident, according to police.
Both men are set to appear in court on Oct. 8.