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Century Man Gets Prison Time For Stolen Car Burned When Lighter Sparks Stolen Gas Can In The Backseat

A Century man will spend the next few years in jail for stealing a car that was accidentally burned after a a cigarette lighter was used to illuminate the passenger compartment, which contained a stolen gas can.

Joshua Jackson Grimes, 31, was convicted by an Escambia County jury of  grand theft of a motor vehicle, burglary of an unoccupied structure, second degree arson and second degree petit theft. He was sentenced by Judge Jan Shackelford to four years in state prison, plus ordered to $1,434 in court costs, fees and the investigative cost of the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Grimes took a 2003 Hyundai Sonata without permission from a female on Tedder Road. Grimes allegedly drove to Wallace, AL, where he pickup up a teen male, the two of them riding around until the vehicle ran out of gas after dark back in Florida. Grimes then reportedly stole a gas can containing about four gallons of gas from the carport of a residence on Highway 168.

The teen said Grimes poured a “little bit” of gas into the vehicle to get the pair out of the area and then placed the gas can in the backseat of the vehicle.

A short time later, the teen used a cigarette lighter to illuminate  the inside of the vehicle, igniting the gas can and inside of the vehicle. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue was dispatched to a vehicle fire with a possible burn victim on Highway 168, but the vehicle was gone by the time firefighters arrived.

Grimes allegedly drove the vehicle to his home on nearby Wawbeek Road until morning and then returned the burned vehicle back to the owner’s home after daylight. According to deputies, the vehicle was charred on the inside, with a melted five-gallon gas can and a melted ice chest in the backseat.

The teen male was found to have suffered burns during the incident, and the case was referred to the Department of Children and Families for further investigation.