Fugitive who shut down KSU has a rap sheet

Christopher D. Gay’s life in crime dates back a decade, according to official accounts and media reports.

Aug. 18, 1999: Gay committed theft by deception in Troup County, Ga., and later was convicted.

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Cobb County Police

Christopher D. Gay’s escape from a Tennessee lawman is the latest incident in a life of crime that goes back to 1999.

Related links:

• KSU emergency system works
• Video The scene
• Photos The search
• PDF Read the KSU e-mail about the incident
• MP3 Escapee inspires a ballad
• NYT describes previous escape

Recent headlines:

[an error occurred while processing this directive]    • Cobb County news

Sept. 14, 2000: Gay committed theft by taking in Troup County. He escaped from jail after telling guards he was suicidal and being put in a cell near the main door.

May 9, 2003: Gay began serving a 5-year prison sentence in Georgia on the Troup County charges.

April 13, 2004: Gay was released on parole.

Jan. 21, 2007: Facing charges of stealing an RV in Alabama, Gay escaped from a prisoner transport van at a rest area near Hardeeville, S.C. Gay then allegedly stole a truck and drove to Manchester, Tenn., then took a Wal-Mart tractor-trailer and headed to Nashville. He reportedly wanted to visit his terminally ill mother.

Jan. 23, 2007: Police said Gay abandoned the Wal-Mart truck in a field 50 yards from his mom’s home and fled into woods without seeing her when officers approached.

Jan. 25, 2007: Gay showed up at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Fla., in country singer Crystal Gayle’s stolen tour bus. Racetrack officials became suspicious and called police when he told them he was there to pick up NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. Gay left in the bus before officers arrived.

Jan. 26, 2007: Gay was arrested in Daytona Beach, Fla., still driving the stolen tour bus. The local newspaper reported that Gay was pulled over after police working an undercover prostitution sting spotted him dropping off a suspected hooker. When police stopped the bus, Gay asked for directions to the Daytona International Speedway. He was arrested.

February 2007: Bluegrass musician Tim O’Brien wrote and recorded “The Ballad of Christopher Daniel Gay.” The London Sunday Telegraph published a 1,000-word account of Gay’s escapades.

Feb. 7, 2007: Gay’s mother, Anna Shull, died.

August 2007: A Maxim magazine cover story on Gay was titled “The Last Outlaw! The Hell-on-18-Wheels Odyssey of Fugitive Christopher Gay.”

Dec. 5, 2008: Gay was arrested in Orlando for trying to sell stolen items to a pawn shop.

This week: Gay was picked up by a Tennessee sheriff’s deputy in Orlando after serving 82 days in the Orange County, Fla., jail. While being transported to Tennessee to face charges, he escaped from a deputy at a Kennesaw Waffle House. Police shut down nearby Kennesaw State University for three hours but didn’t find him.

Wednesday: Gay remained at large.

— Compiled by Mike Morris and Marcus K. Garner