VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A husband and wife are accused of staging a burglary at their house in an attempt to convince investigators that their truck was stolen, deputies said Tuesday.
Garrick Gunn and Adria Gunn wanted authorities to believe that it might have been a burglar who used their vehicle in a hit-and-run crash that took place last Tuesday at East Beresford and South Amelia avenues, in DeLand, according to a news release from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
The Gunns are now at the Volusia County Jail on charges of falsely reporting a crime. Garrick Gunn is scheduled for his first court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Florida Highway Patrol first investigated the hit-and-run crash, which sent someone to a hospital and damaged a traffic signal, officials said.
A witness who saw the wreck told a deputy that a woman matching Adria Gunn’s description approached him, asking for a ride away from the scene, the news release said.
He refused, and said he overheard the woman talking on the phone, saying, “Man, hurry up and come get me, ‘cause I don’t have no license,” deputies said.
The Gunns reported the burglary the next day.
Garrick Gunn said his insurance company called him that morning to let him know the truck was involved in a crash while he and Adria Gunn were visiting a family member in Bunnell, deputies said.
Garrick Gunn said he rushed home and found the truck had been stolen from his Kimberly Drive home.
Gunn showed a deputy part of his damaged door frame, but the deputy noticed no damage to the lock itself, or to the door, which seemed strange if someone had made a forced entry, the Sheriff’s Office said.
An FHP trooper discovered a broken, fake, gray-blue painted fingernail inside the suspect vehicle, deputies said, and the witness told the trooper that the woman who approached him asking for a ride had the same type of nails.
Deputies arrested the Gunns on Tuesday. They’re held on $7,000 bond apiece.
They face charges of destroying, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, making a false report of a crime and providing false information to law enforcement, deputies said.