Two men argued. Then one burned the other’s tents and sent him the video, cops say
If recording yourself committing a crime is terrible idea, sending the video to someone else is even worse. But that’s exactly what one man did in the Florida Panhandle.
According to an incident report, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office on Monday arrested Brannon Gray of Youngstown, Florida, on charges of arson and burglary after sending a video to a man that shows him burning the recipient’s belongings.
The saga began as an argument between Gray, 33, and Ron Barba, 29, on Facebook. Each owns competing landscaping businesses in Youngstown. Gray, who used to employ Barba, accused him of stealing customers after he recently struck out on his own.
As the argument intensified, the report states Barba left his girlfriend’s home to retrieve some of his belongings from a string of tents where he had been living. Barba intentionally left two tents: one for himself and another for someone else.
Upon returning to his girlfriend’s home, Barba began receiving videos of what he believed to be his tents on fire. The sender was Gray, according to police.
“In the video you can hear Brannon make numerous statements,” the deputy wrote in the report, “...and other comments addressing Ron by name while intentionally placing his items in the fire.”
Gray, charged with one count each of both arson and burglary, later told deputies that he only burned the items because he believed Barba “no longer wanted them.” He has yet to post bond which was set at $15,000.
