Shawn Anthony Gentry

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was arrested after he crashed a stolen Corvette. He also battered his wife and a neighbor when they tried to stop him.

Shawn Anthony Gentry, 36, 2136 S. Julian Drive, Warsaw, is being charged with auto theft, a level 6 felony; criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor; battery, a class A misdemeanor; and domestic battery, a class A misdemeanor.

On Nov, 14, an officer with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department responded to an automobile accident on Julian Drive. The officer arrived and observed a 1994 black Chevrolet Corvette crashed into a tree with extensive front end damage and a broken windshield.

The vehicle’s owner advised the officer that Gentry and his wife had been living at his residence for the past two weeks. He never gave Gentry permission to drive his Corvette. The vehicle’s owner had left the residence and gotten a call from Gentry’s wife who advised Gentry was going to steal the vehicle.

The officer spoke with a neighbor who advised he heard loud music, a loud bang and engine revving. He discovered the Corvette wrecked with Gentry still inside the vehicle. Gentry began punching the neighbor in the face and head. Gentry then ran behind the house and was detained by officers. The neighbor had visible red marks on his face.

The officer also spoke with Gentry’s wife. She advised that Gentry went to the barn and got inside the Corvette. He got into the vehicle and told her that he was going to take a drive. She shut the car off and Gentry started pulling her hair, biting her and struck her in the head and face several times. She then called the vehicle’s owner.

Gentry was taken to the hospital for a head injury he received from hitting his head against the Corvette’s windshield. He was then booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on Nov. 15, with a $5,250 surety and cash bond.