Christopher Daniel Gay

Christopher Daniel Gay, also nicknamed Little Houdini,^[1] is a 35-year-old fugitive of Coffee County, Tennessee.^[2]

Gay escaped police custody the afternoon of March 3, 2009 while being transported from Orlando, Florida to Coffee County, Tennessee.^[1] He had been arrested and held for larceny of a Wal-Mart truck.^[3] When the officers stopped for food at a Waffle House in Kennesaw, Georgia, Gay was able to free himself of his restraints and fled from the car. Gay ran onto the campus of Kennesaw State University, where school officials and campus police locked down the university for approximately two hours.

Gay had previously escaped police custody in South Carolina while being transported to Alabama on charges of stealing an RV.^[1][2]

2007 escape

In 2007, he escaped to visit his dying mother in Tennessee and while on the run from police he managed steal the tour bus of country music singer, Crystal Gayle (who Gay's mother happen to be a fan of) and traveled to Daytona International Speedway (where he tried to pass himself off as a member of Tony Stewart's race team). He was apprehended by police after a police officer witnessed a prostitute walk off the stolen tour bus Gay was driving (the bus was returned to Crystal Gayle undamaged). Twelve days following Gay's capture, Gay's mother died on Feb. 7, 2007 of cancer. Gay was not allowed to attend her funeral.^[1]

This escape inspired country music singer-songwriter Tim O'Brien to write a song about his escape called "The Ballad of Christopher Daniel Gay".^[4] It also inspired indie hip-hop artist Sage Francis to write the song called "Little Houdini" on his 2010 album Li(f)e.

In popular culture

• The story of his 2007 escape to visit his dying mother and his theft of Crystal Gayle's tour bus was featured on World's Dumbest Criminals. Gay's theft of the tour bus and his trip to a Daytona Beach speedway (where he attempted to pass himself off as Tony Stewart's bus driver) were mocked by the shows celebrity commentators.
• The case of Gay's 2007 escape was featured on Investigation Discovery's I (Almost) Got Away With It, in an episode titled "Got a Country Legend's Tour Bus". It featured interviews and commentary from those involved with the case, the police, prison officials, Gay's sister, Gay himself, and Crystal Gayle.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Cook, Rhonda; MARCUS K. GARNER (03-04-2009). "‘Little Houdini’ still on the loose after Kennesaw escape". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/cobb/stories/2009/03/03/ksu_search.html. Retrieved 2009-03-06. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Davis, Mark; Rhonda Cook (03-05-2009). The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/05/fugitive0305b.html. Retrieved 2009-03-06. 
3. ^ "Prisoner Known as 'Little Houdini' Escapes From Police". Associated Press. 2009-03-04. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504452,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-06. 
4. ^ Roswen, Kevin (03-04-2009). "'Little Houdini' Magically Disappears". 11alive. http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=127651&catid=3. Retrieved 2009-03-06. 

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Name	Gay, Christopher Daniel
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