A Summerfield man is behind bars on a litany of charges after a string of burglaries Thursday.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence in the 16000 block of S.E. 88th Avenue on Thursday morning after receiving reports of a residential burglary. The victim told deputies he woke up at 2:30 a.m. and saw a man later identified as 47-year-old Christopher Chad Pennington inside his bedroom closet. He described the intruder as a white male approximately 35 years old, about 5-foot-4-inches tall with a thin build and said he didn’t know him.
The victim, who is 73 and dependent on oxygen, started yelling for Pennington to leave his residence. Pennington pushed him and said, “Don’t mess with me or I’ll have my guy come here and mess you up,” a sheriff’s office report states.
The victim said Pennington started searching his home and took a Nikon camera valued at $500, a Kodak camera valued at $500 and a two Verizon cell phones valued at $400 apiece. He said Pennington then went into his garage and stole his white 2011 Chevrolet Silverado valued at $48,000, which contained a .22-caliber Beretta handgun worth $600.
The victim told deputies he was forced to ride a bicycle to a gas station about a mile away to report the crime, since his cell phones were taken. He said he carried his oxygen tanks with him because he is dependent on oxygen to breathe.
A short time later, deputies were called to a residence in the 15900 block of S.E. 97th Terrace. The victim claimed that a white male wearing camo shorts, no shirt and a ball cap entered his residence and started making food in his kitchen. When he was discovered, the man, later identified as Pennington, took the victim’s truck and fled from the residence. The victim said he used his wife’s vehicle to chase Pennington but lost him, the report says.
Deputies then went to a residence in the 9800 block of S.E. 157th Lane, where a man reported that a white male wearing camo pants, no shirt and no shoes was in his back yard screaming and hitting walls. Deputies located Pennington a short time later and he had one of the stolen cell phones with him, a pink backpack containing several electronics and a pair of boots next to him, the report says.
Pennington was positively identified by the victims of the second burglary. Deputies then located the missing pickup truck, which had been involved in a crash. The handgun and one of the missing cameras were found inside the vehicle, the report says.
After deputies received calls about two other burglaries allegedly involving Pennington, he was placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail. He was charged with burglary with assault or battery, unarmed burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, four counts of armed burglary of a dwelling, structure of conveyance, three counts of grand theft of a dwelling, grand theft of a firearm, two counts grand theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of petit theft (third or subsequent offense).
Pennington, who lives at 16960 S.E. 101st Court Rd. in Summerfield, was being held on $154,000 bond. His next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.