Cantonment Man Charged With Arson For Torching His Own Jeep

February 20, 2026

A Cantonment man has been charged with arson after allegedly torching his vehicle last Sunday morning.

As we previously reported, a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo was discovered burning with no one around alongside Neal Road near Pine Top Lane shortly before 9:30 a.m.

Now, Jerry Kent Calvert, 24, has been charged with felony arson in connection with the fire that destroyed his vehicle.

After the fire, deputies attempted to contact Calvert and his relatives, noting that he would not answer his phone for anyone. His parents later located him walking near the Escambia County Road Department’s Camp 5, and deputies responded.

He stated that the vehicle ran out of gas and he parked on the side of the Road at Pine Top Lane and Neal Road, an arrest report states.

His exact statement to deputies was redacted from the report, but the report states it was “because he was tired of his grandmother yelling at he and his uncle and kicking them out of the house.”

A Florida State Fire Marshal detective told deputies that burn patterns indicated that the fire was not accidental.

NorthEscambia photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under TOP STORIES