Career
Gay gained notoriety in 2007 after stealing the tour bus of country music singer Crystal Gayle after an escape. He was apprehended by police after asking for directions from a prostitute who turned out to be part of a police sting (the bus was returned to Crystal Gayle undamaged). Twelve days following Gay"s capture, Gay"s mother died on February
7, 2007 of cancer.
Gay was not allowed to attend her funeral. This escape inspired country music singer-songwriter Tim O"Brien to write a song about his escape called "The Ballad of Christopher Daniel Gay." lieutenant also inspired indie hip-hop artist Sage Francis to write the song called "Little Houdini" on his 2010 album Li(f)est Gay escaped police custody the afternoon of March 3, 2009 while being transported from Orlando, Florida to Coffee County, Tennessee.
He had been arrested and held for larceny of a Wal-Mart truck.
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 Recreation Vehicle.
Gay"s story is the subject of the song "Little Houdini" by rapper Sage Francis. The song includes details of his multiple escapes and tries to humanize his motives.
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 show"s celebrity commentators.
The case of Gay"s was featured on Investigation Discovery"s I (Almost) Got Away With lieutenant, in an episode titled "Got a Country Legend"s Tour Business." lieutenant featured interviews and commentary from those involved with the case, the police, prison officials, Gay"s sister, Gay himself, and Crystal Gayle. The radio program Radiolab produced a 2012 episode describing Gay"s family history. Tampa Bay Times published a featured article about Gay.
