Volusia Honor Air chairperson Bernadette Britz-Parker and Bill Mancinik, Rotary Honor Air Coordinator offer their thanks and gratitude on behalf of DeLand’s three Rotary Clubs who sponsor the flights. The clubs are the Rotary Club of DeLand, the Downtown Rotary Club and the DeLand Breakfast Club. There have been three Volusia Honor Air flights and the upcoming flight on October 3^rd will be the fourth. The Rotary Clubs are planning to continue the flights every May and October until every Deland area WWII veteran who wants to go is accommodated.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard is there in every flight to honor the World War II Veterans when they depart and welcome them home when they return. In addition, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is instrumental in coordinating police escorts with local police agencies in Washington D.D. for the Honor Air veteran’s during their day-long visit

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October 15, 2009

For immediate release

From Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer

MAN CHARGED WITH ANIMAL CRUELTY FOR

STRANGLING RAT DURING DOMESTIC QUARREL

A 22-year-old DeLand man arrested last week during a domestic quarrel with his wife is now facing additional charges for killing the couple’s pet rat during the argument. Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies responding to a report of a disturbance shortly before 2 a.m. on Oct. 9 arrested Darren Daniels, although he didn’t give up easily. Daniels had fled the couple’s residence on Ayesbury Circle north of DeLand after arguing with his wife and grabbing her during the spat. Daniels’ wife said the quarrel started when Daniels flew off the handle after accusing her of taking his last cigarette.

Responding deputies spotted Daniels fleeing in a vehicle and attempted to pull it over, but he refused to stop. Deputies eventually used spiked stop sticks to flatten the tires and force the car to the side of the road near the intersection of West Plymouth Avenue and North Stone Street. Daniels was arrested on charges of battery and fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. Back inside Daniels’ apartment, deputies noticed numerous aquariums housing pet snakes, lizards and rats. One of the rats was dead. Daniels’ wife told deputies that during the argument, Daniels grabbed a rat from the aquarium and smashed its head against the side of the tank and then strangled the rat until it was dead.

After reviewing the case and applicable state statutes, deputies on Thursday filed an additional charging affidavit against Daniels for felony animal cruelty. Daniels remains in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.

October 14, 2009

For immediate release

RAIDS TOPPLE MAJOR DRUG RING

Illegal drugs will be scarcer in the DeLand area after local, state and federal agents dismantled a major marijuana and cocaine distribution ring during a series of coordinated raids. Capping off a nearly 20-month investigation, Wednesday’s raids snared the two reputed heads of the organization, 34-year-old Edward Dragon of DeLand and 27-year-old Hilario Dela-Sancha of DeLeon Springs.

The drug network has been under investigation ever since January 2008, when agents with the Volusia Bureau of Investigation (VBI) learned that the group was moving large quantities of cocaine and marijuana through the DeLand area. Shortly afterwards, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was brought in to the investigation. Even before Wednesday’s raids, the investigation had yielded four arrests and the seizure of cocaine and marijuana with an estimated street value of about $60,000. But that was merely the tip of the iceberg. Based on information gathered in the investigation -- dubbed “Operation No Leash” -- agents secured warrants to search 11 different homes in DeLand, DeLeon Springs, Pierson and Seville and across the Putnam County border in Crescent City. By early Wednesday afternoon, a total of 19 people were in custody. Meanwhile, agents armed with arrest warrants continued to search for two additional defendants named in the investigation.

Kicking off at 6 a.m., Wednesday’s raids went off without a hitch. In order to maintain the element of surprise, more than 250 local, state and federal agents participated in the operation so that the target sites could be hit simultaneously. In addition to DEA and the multi-agency VBI, SWAT teams from the Volusia County, Flagler County, Lake County and Putnam County sheriff’s offices along with municipal police SWAT teams from Orange City, New Smyrna Beach, Daytona Beach and Port Orange were brought in to ensure safe entry by the search teams. Agents quickly rounded up 17 people who were named in arrest warrants along with two others who were snared in Wednesday’s operation. A total of 14 kilos of cocaine with a street value of approximately $420,000 was seized out of a home on Gaudrey Avenue in DeLand. Four pounds of marijuana also were seized from the home and two people were arrested at that location. Additionally, agents seized nine guns along with money and several vehicles during Wednesday’s raids.

VBI is a multi-agency task force that pools resources from nine local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to target mid- and upper-level narcotics traffickers as well as racketeering and organized crime. Participating agencies include the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Daytona Beach Police Department, Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety, DeLand Police Department, Port Orange Police Department, New Smyrna Beach Police Department and the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. VBI also is part of the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, which is a multi-agency task force established by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy to combat drug trafficking along the seven-county area hugging Central Florida’s I-4 corridor.

The 17 defendants arrested Wednesday on open warrants were as follows:

· Agustine Armenta-Obesa, 31, DeLand. Trafficking in cocaine, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $55,000 bond.

· Francisco Camacho, 29, DeLand. Unlawful possession of a controlled substance, $15,000 bond.

· Cornelio Cardenas, 18, Pierson. Conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, delivery of cocaine, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, $80,000 bond.

· Adriana Colunga, 20, Crescent City. Unlawful possession of a controlled substance, $155,000 bond.

· Joseph Dauria, 58, Ormond Beach. Conspiracy to deliver cocaine, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, $10,000 bond.

· Hilario Dela-Sancha, 27, DeLeon Springs. Trafficking in illegal drugs, $205,000 bond.

· Edward Dragon, 34, DeLand. Unlawful possession of a controlled substance, $10,000 bond.

· Alejandro Figueroa, 34, Orange City. Trafficking in illegal drugs, $155,000 bond.

· Laura Figueroa, 30, Orange City. Trafficking in illegal drugs, $155,000 bond.

· Ramon Flores, 31, DeLand. Conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, conspiracy to traffic in marijuana, trafficking in marijuana, $255,000 bond.

· Adalberto Galarza, 37, Pierson. Trafficking in cocaine, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $205,000.

· Alfredo Galarza, 26, Seville. Conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, $280,000 bond.

· Juan Garcia, 24, DeLand. Conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, $270,000 bond.

· Derek Jackson, 19, DeLand. Conspiracy to sell or deliver cocaine, conspiracy to sell or deliver marijuana, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $25,000 bond.

· Carlos Lira, 27, Pierson. Trafficking in cocaine, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $155,000 bond.

· Courtney Rickman, 23, DeLand. Solicitation to deliver cocaine, child neglect, conspiracy to deliver marijuana, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $20,000 bond.

· Carlos Verdel, Jr., 30, DeLeon Springs. Conspiracy to traffic in marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, $60,000 bond.

In addition, two others -- Alex Alvarado and Artura Rodriguez -- were picked up during the raids and charged with armed drug trafficking.

October 9, 2009

For immediate release

from: Brandon Haught, Public Information Office

DELTONA BANK ROBBER CAPTURED

A robber got away with cash from a Deltona bank September 29 but left behind something valuable to Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators: fingerprints. George Vega was arrested Thursday on a warrant charging him with robbery and booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.

It was just before 5 p.m. when Vega walked up to a drive thru window at Wachovia Bank, 1130 Deltona Blvd., and passed a note through the teller’s transfer drawer. The note said, “Put money from the drawer & your next door neighbor no tricks Im armed wait 15 min to ring alarm if not you will pay.” The teller read the note and also noticed that Vega had his hand on his jacket pocket as if something was in it. The teller passed cash back through the transfer drawer to Vega who then took it and walked away. However, he left behind the note. The teller told deputies that the robber had a band aid near his right eye and that his jacket collar was pulled up to his chin.

The note was processed for evidence and fingerprints were found. Analysis of the prints matched them to Vega. Furthermore, a picture of Vega showed that he has what appears to be tattooed teardrops by his eye where the teller saw the band aid and a tattoo on his neck that would have been covered by his pulled up jacket collar.

Investigator Chris Teague then obtained an arrest warrant Thursday signed by county court judge Peter F. Marshall. Vega was found at his parents’ house on Mayflower Avenue, Deltona, and arrested at 3:15 that afternoon. In addition to the robbery charge, the 43-year-old was also charged with possession of heroin after the drug was found on him during the arrest.

October 6, 2009

For immediate release

Contact: Brandon Haught, Public Information Office

VICTIM BECOMES DEFENDANT IN FAKE ROBBERY

A 22-year-old claimed he was robbed at knifepoint Monday night near New Smyrna Beach and that the robber took off with his bottle of oxycodone. But elements of the victim’s story didn’t add up and Timothy Maas eventually admitted to Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies that he had lost his pills and had hoped that a call to 911 about a fake robbery would eventually net him a replacement prescription. Instead, he wound up in jail.

Deputies responded to the intersection of Hammond Street and Debbie Street at approximately 9:38 p.m. when Maas called 911 to report that as he was walking down the street a man had jumped out of some nearby bushes and accosted him at knifepoint. Maas went on to tell deputies that the man demanded everything in his pockets, which included his keys, cell phone and pill bottle. Maas’ phantom robber then fled across a field and ditched the phone and keys while keeping the oxycodone. A K-9 unit was then deployed, but wasn’t able to find a scent. Additionally, deputies discovered that nobody could run through the grassy field without leaving clear tracks, and yet no tracks were evident. A second telling of the tale by Maas revealed a few inconsistencies. Finally, Maas gave up on his story and admitted that the whole thing was just a scheme to get a replacement prescription for a bottle of oxycodone he had lost.

Maas, a New Smyrna Beach resident, was charged with filing a false police report, misuse of 911 and resisting arrest without violence. He was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach without further incident.

October 4, 2009

For immediate release

from Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer

ARMED HOLD-UP ATTEMPT FOILED IN DELTONA

He just said no. That’s what a store clerk did when a would-be robber pointed a gun at his face Saturday night and demanded money. The attempted hold-up occurred at the Chevron station on Saxon Boulevard in Deltona at around 8:30 p.m.

The Suspect walked into the store and got a soda from the cooler, then waited for the other customers to leave. The suspect then walked to the counter, where two clerks were on duty, pulled out a gun and pointed it at one of the clerks and demanded money. Despite the robber’s repeated demands, the clerk refused to turn over the money. The suspect eventually fled the store empty-handed, except for the drink he stole on the way out the door. Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene, but the robber was gone. He was described as an approximately 6’2” Black man with a slim build. The suspect has medium length dreadlocks and groomed facial hair and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black undershirt with a white, hooded sweater with multi-colored sleeves and a red hood, a white ball cap and dark sunglasses.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, toll-free, at (888) 277-TIPS. Resident can also text a tip by texting “TIP231 plus the message” to CRIMES. Tipsters who provide information to Crime Stoppers will remain anonymous and can qualify for a reward of up to $1,000. Anyone who prefers to talk directly to a deputy can call (386) 860-7030. However, only callers to Crime Stoppers will qualify for a reward.

October 2, 2009

For immediate release

from Gary Davidson, Public Information Office

DEPUTIES CAPTURE BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT

Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators made short work of a search for the robber who held up the Bank of America on Ocean Shore Boulevard in Ormond-by-the-Sea Thursday morning. Thanks in large measure to an anonymous tip, investigators nabbed the suspect on Friday -- one day after the robbery and about a mile from the scene of the crime.

Gregory Harris didn’t put up a fight or even try to deny he was robber who strolled into the bank on Thursday wearing a floppy hat and sunglasses demanding cash and claiming to have a gun. “Is this about the Bank of America?” he asked Sheriff’s investigators who pulled him over in the same gold-colored Buick seen fleeing Thursday’s robbery. “I knew you guys were gonna come for me.”

The robbery occurred at about 11 a.m. on Thursday. The suspect claimed to have a gun and lifted his shirt to reinforce the threat. The teller complied with the demands of the suspect, who made off with about $4,300 in the heist. While the suspect managed to elude capture on Thursday, his photo captured by the bank’s surveillance system was widely distributed through local news outlets. And the public exposure of the photo paid off. Friday afternoon, an anonymous tipster called Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida and pointed the finger at the 42-year-old Harris of Ormond Beach. Investigators placed Harris under surveillance and pulled him over shortly after 5 p.m. while driving his car on Ocean Shore Boulevard, about a mile north of the bank. Harris confessed to the robbery during an interview with Sheriff’s investigator Richard Graves and led deputies to the hat, shirt and sunglasses he wore during the robbery. Investigators also recovered about $1,700 of the stolen loot. Harris said he spent the rest on drugs.

Deputies charged Harris with armed robbery and grand theft and prepared Friday night to take him to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach, where he initially will be held without bond.

October 1, 2009

For immediate release

from Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer

Note: Please see attached photo of the suspect

BANK OF AMERICA IN ORMOND-BY-THE-SEA ROBBED

A robber who lifted his shirt to imply he was armed held up the Bank of America on Ocean Shore Boulevard in Ormond-by-the-Sea Thursday morning. No shots were fired and no one was injured in the robbery, which occurred at about 11 a.m. Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies are still searching for the suspect, who fled the scene in a gold-colored passenger car believed to either be a Buick or Dodge.

Responding deputies arrived at the bank less than two minutes after dispatchers received the 911 call, while other deputies along with a Sheriff’s Office helicopter covered key escape routes in a search for the fleeing vehicle. Investigators are still processing the scene for clues.

The suspect was described as a white man believed to be between the ages of 30-40. He was approximately 6’ tall and weighed about 200 pounds and was last seen wearing light-colored cargo shorts and a dark t-shirt, sneakers, a hat and sunglasses. The hat was a Safari or Panama Jack style. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (386) 323-0151 or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, toll-free, at (888) 277-TIPS. Callers to Crime Stoppers will remain anonymous and can qualify for a reward of up to $1,000. Information can also be anonymously sent to Crime Stoppers by texting “TIP231 plus the message” to CRIMES.

October 2, 2009

For immediate release

Contact: Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer

SUSPECT IN ILLEGAL PILL OPERATION HELD ON $1 MILLION BOND

A DeBary man is being held on $1 million bond after Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators charged him with running an expansive criminal enterprise that sold pharmaceutical drugs acquired with phony prescriptions.

While the investigation is far from over, officials believe 41-year-old John Davey had more than 30 people on his payroll. Davey is accused of forging prescriptions, mostly for Oxycodone, Dilaudid and Xanax, and then paying people to get the phony prescriptions filled at local pharmacies. In just two-and-a-half months, he obtained prescriptions for more than 14,000 pills, with an estimated street value of approximately $200,000. Davey would pay his accomplices in either money or pills.

Investigators in the Sheriff’s Office’s DeBary headquarters launched the investigation last month, after receiving an anonymous tip about Davey’s operation. On Sept. 25, Sergeant Virgil Ford and investigator Greg Seymour were in DeBary on an unrelated case, driving an unmarked car, when they spotted a pickup truck with Davey and two other occupants. Acting on a hunch that they were on their way to get drugs, the investigators decided to follow the truck. While watching from a distance, one of the occupants went into a local pharmacy and picked up a prescription for 120 Oxycodone pills. After the truck left the pharmacy, a deputy in a marked patrol car stopped the vehicle. Deputies located the bottle of Oxycodone pills on Davey and he was arrested on charges of trafficking in illegal drugs and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. He posted $30,000 bond and was later released on the charges.

After investigators linked Davey to numerous other fraudulent pill purchases, they obtained an arrest warrant on Friday from Circuit Court Judge Hubert L. Grimes charging Davey with operating a continuing criminal enterprise. Florida statutes define the offense as the commission of three or more felonies by someone acting in the capacity of an organizer or supervisor and in concert with five or more people. Davey was picked up Friday afternoon at his home on Valencia Road and is being transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach, where he will be held on $1 million bond.

October 2, 2009

For immediate release

from Brandon Haught, Public Information Office

MAN ARRESTED FOR BATTERY ON 67-YEAR-OLD WOMAN

Thanks to alert employees at a bank near Daytona Beach Thursday, a 67-year-old woman may finally get some relief after being struck and threatened by a 33-year-old male caregiver who was also caught in the act trying to force the woman to withdraw money from her bank account. Darren Sanders now faces multiple charges after Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators heard the distraught woman relate how Sanders made her fearful and helpless in the face of his angry demands. After piecing together what had happened from interviews with the victim, a witness and the bank employees, Sanders was arrested.

The victim, a Daytona Beach resident, had hired Sanders to help care for her. Sanders’ role was to help the victim get around, such as getting in and out of vehicles and other similar situations. However, the victim told deputies that she has been living in fear of Sanders for a while. She felt that he could harm her or her cats. According to the victim, Sanders had threatened to behead one cat and drown another. The fear reached a climax Thursday morning when Sanders argued with the victim about money owed to him for his services. He felt that he should receive more than the victim was willing to give. That’s when Sanders stepped in close to the woman, yelled and cursed at her and hit her face, according to the victim. The woman tried to activate her medical alert pendant, but Sanders snatched it from her and then went through the house ripping out the phone lines. Determined to get the money he wanted, he forced her into a truck to take her to the bank, injuring her neck and shoulder as he did so. Another female caregiver was present during this altercation, and later told deputies that she was scared of Sanders, too. She went along with Sanders and the victim to the bank because she was afraid of what Sanders might do to the victim.

When they got to the Wachovia Bank on White Street, though, employees were already aware that something wasn’t right. After Sanders and the victim had visited the bank a few days earlier, a manager noticed that the victim’s account balance had been dwindling from several thousand to just a few hundred in the past few months with a lot of the money going to Sanders via checks. The manager then flagged the account. When Sanders appeared at the bank on Thursday law enforcement was called in to investigate. With that bit of the story finally revealed, the victim let the floodgates open as she poured out her story of what had been happening to her to investigators.

Sanders was charged with false imprisonment, battery on a person 65 years or older and grand theft. He was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach without bail. The victim was transported by EVAC ambulance to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach to be treated for her injuries. The Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Children and Families will continue to investigate the victim’s care giving situation and additional charges are possible.

October 1, 2009

For immediate release

AGENTS RAID DOCTOR’S OFFICE IN PRESCRIPTION DRUG FRAUD CASE

Law enforcement agents seized patient records Thursday morning as part of a sweeping investigation into a Central Florida doctor suspected of prescription fraud. Dr. Ralph Chambers, Jr., came under suspicion after several of his patients died from drug overdoses. He operates a drug treatment program at New Hope Family Care in Sanford and has been under investigation since 2005.

In addition to being suspected of prescribing pain killers for illegitimate purposes, the 59-year-old Dr. Chambers also is under investigation for possible Medicaid fraud. Investigating agencies include the Volusia Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Attorney General’s Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The Sanford Police Department also assisted with the execution of the search warrants.

During the course of the investigation -- dubbed Operation Script Writer -- agents made numerous undercover visits to Dr. Chambers’ office, talked to local pharmacists and interviewed several of Dr. Chambers’ current and former patients. Dr. Chambers’ name also has surfaced during the investigation of several pill distribution cases. Agents believe much of the allegedly fraudulent prescriptions were for the potent pain reliever, Oxycodone. Oxycodone is a heavily abused narcotic that has been determined to be a contributing factor in numerous fatal drug overdoses around the state.

Based on the information gathered in the investigation, agents obtained court orders to search Dr. Chambers’ office and two pharmacies in Sanford -- Discount Rx and Tru-Valu Drugs. The search warrants were executed Thursday morning and patient records were being seized. No criminal charges have been filed in the case, and the investigation is ongoing. VBI is a multi-agency task force that pools resources from nine local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to target mid- and upper-level narcotics traffickers as well as racketeering and organized crime. Participating agencies include the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Attorney’s General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Daytona Beach Police Department, Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety, DeLand Police Department, Port Orange Police Department, New Smyrna Beach Police Department and the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. VBI also is part of the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, which is a multi-agency task force established by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy to combat drug trafficking along the seven-county area hugging Central Florida’s I-4 corridor.

Anyone with information related to the investigation into Dr. Chambers is asked to call (386) 274-3470.

October 1, 2009

For immediate release

from Brandon Haught, Public Information Office

MAN FIRES GUN DURING ROAD RAGE INCIDENT

A 43-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night after he admitted to firing a gun during a road rage incident while on North U.S. Highway 17 in DeLeon Springs. The single shot shattered a window on the victim’s truck, but no one was seriously injured. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office charged Cyril Taylor with shooting into an occupied vehicle.

The victim, Jack Corcione, told deputies that he was driving a TG Lee semi truck along State Road 40 when another vehicle started driving recklessly in front of him at about 3 a.m. Corcione said that the other vehicle kept speeding up and slowing down. The two vehicles turned southbound onto U.S. 17 and the reckless driving continued. Finally, Corcione pulled off the road near the intersection of U.S. 17 and Spring Garden Ranch Road. The other vehicle then made a U-turn and drove back to Corcione, pulling up alongside the truck. Suddenly a shot rang out and a bullet struck the driver’s side vent window of Corcione’s truck, shattering the glass. He heard the shooter say, “Got that, boy?” and the vehicle sped away, but not before Corcione obtained the license plate number.

Deputies tracked the license plate to Taylor’s home on Redwood Avenue in Orange City. Taylor was found there with a handgun tucked in his waistband. He told deputies that he had been involved in a road rage incident and that he had fired a round into the air. Deputies arrested Taylor and booked him into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach without incident.

September 30, 2009

For immediate release

from Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer

DELTONA MAN CHARGED WITH FONDLING TEENAGE GIRL

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office has filed criminal charges against a 29-year-old Deltona man accused of drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana with two teenage girls and kissing and fondling one of the teens. And now investigators want to know if there are other victims out there who came into contact with Jean Garcia.

Two girls, ages 15 and 16, told investigators that Garcia would frequently drive past as they walked to school, waving and honking his car horn. Early one morning in May, the girls said they accepted a ride from Garcia and he took them to a house in Deltona where they smoked marijuana and drank alcohol. Afterwards, Garcia dropped the girls off at school, but he came back that afternoon after school let out and picked them up. The three then went to a park in Enterprise, and it was there that Garcia is accused of kissing the 15-year-old girl and fondling her breasts over her clothes. The incident was reported to the Sheriff’s Office the next day.

When questioned by investigators with the Sheriff’s Office’s Sex Crimes Unit, Garcia initially denied knowing the girls, giving them a ride or going to the park with them. He later changed his story and admitted giving the girls a ride and being kissed one time by one of the girls, but insisted nothing else happened. However, investigators noted that Garcia’s story was inconsistent in many of the details. On Tuesday, investigators obtained an arrest warrant from Circuit Court Judge Frank Marriott charging Garcia with lewd or lascivious conduct and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child. Garcia is currently incarcerated in Orange County on a sexual battery charge.

Anyone with information regarding Garcia or who may have been a victim is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (386) 736-5979.

Update Sept. 30, 2009

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office has filed additional criminal charges against the defendant after connecting him to a copper theft at a second cell tower site. The new copper theft was reported on Monday, one day after David McDonald’s arrest. The site of the second theft was an AT&T tower on West Indian River Boulevard near Edgewater -- less than a half-mile from Sunday’s theft. AT&T officials said the theft at their site occurred sometime on Sunday.

At the AT&T site, the suspect broke through a fence and cut approximately 30 feet of copper ground cable and also took a copper ground buss bar. On Monday, deputies took an AT&T representative to look through the copper wire seized from McDonald during his arrest and identified copper taken from his company’s tower site. Deputies filed additional charges against the defendant for burglary and grand theft.

Gary Davidson

Public Information Officer

Volusia County Sheriff’s Office

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September 28, 2009

For immediate release

Contact: Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer

DEPUTIES NAB ACCUSED COPPER THIEF AT CELL TOWER

When he came across two Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies on Sunday morning, David McDonald told them he was just out for a bike ride. Problem was, it was about 3 o’clock in the morning, McDonald was wearing a green mask and sporting fresh cuts and scrapes on his shins and burglar’s tools were protruding from his pocket and waist pack. Not to mention the fact that the encounter was just down a gravel path from a cell tower west of Edgewater, where a security alarm had alerted authorities to a possible breach.

By the time deputies completed their investigation, the 35-year-old McDonald of Port Orange was under arrest for burglary, grand theft, theft of copper and possession of burglary tools. A convicted felon, McDonald also was charged with violating his probation associated with prior convictions for grand theft and dealing in stolen property.

Deputies were dispatched to the area of Cow Creek Road at about 2:41 a.m. Sunday morning to respond to an alarm call at a Verizon cell tower. As the deputies were approaching the tower, they encountered McDonald riding a bicycle away from the direction of the tower. The first thing deputies noticed was that McDonald was wearing a mask with a helmet-style flashlight on the top, was visibly perspiring and sporting fresh cuts and scrapes on his shins. The next thing they noticed was a large wrench protruding from his pocket. After securing McDonald, they also found pliers, screw drivers, wire cutters and flashlights in his pockets as well as a waist pack. A few moments later, deputies also found a duffel bag near the gate at the cell tower, and the bag was stuffed with about $500 worth of freshly-cut copper wire. McDonald was arrested and transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.

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Deputies nab accused copper thief near cell tower outside Edgewater

Posted Mon, 2009-09-28 13:25

By HENRY FREDERICK

Courtesy photo/Jail mug. David McDonald, 35, of Port Orange, was arrested early Sunday morning by Volusia County Sheriff's deputies on charges of stealing $500 worth of copper from a cell tower outside the Edgewater city limits.

September 29, 2009

For immediate release

from, Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer

ROBBERY AT WACHOVIA BANK IN DELTONA UNDER INVESTIGATION

Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies are searching for a robber who walked up to the drive-thru window at the Wachovia Bank on Deltona Boulevard Tuesday afternoon and demanded money. The suspect stuffed a stickup note into the drive-thru drawer, and the teller complied and passed the robber an undisclosed amount of cash back through the drawer. The teller said the man was holding something under his clothes to give the appearance that he was armed. No one was injured in the robbery, which occurred at about 4:52 p.m.

Deputies rushed to the scene within two minutes of dispatchers receiving the 911 call from the bank, but the suspect was gone. Meanwhile, other deputies fanned out along main thoroughfares and other key escape routes. A Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit and helicopter also assisted in the search, but the suspect wasn’t located. Sheriff’s investigators were still at the bank late Tuesday afternoon processing the scene for clues.

The suspect was described as an Hispanic man believed to be in his 50s and about 5’9” and weighing approximately 175 pounds. He was wearing a white jump suit with beige stripes, a white hat and black sunglasses at the time of the robbery, but deputies recovered the clothing near the bank. The suspect was last seen walking down Abbeyville Street. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (386) 860-7030 or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, toll-free, at (888) 277-TIPS. Callers to Crime Stoppers will remain anonymous and can qualify for a reward of up to $1,000. Information can also be anonymously sent to Crime Stoppers by texting “TIP231 plus the message” to CRIMES.

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Items Deleted at this point to make room at the top of this web page
for new items.

AD:

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OffenderWatch program on the Sheriff’s Office’s Internet site, www.volusia.org/sheriff.

Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida
http://www.volusiacrimestoppers.com/
Tips to Crime Stoppers at
https://www.tipsubmit.com/WebTips.aspx?AgencyID=231
URL: http://n-e-x-u-s.com/crime/
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/fsac
/UCR/index.asp

Local Sexual Predators (Volusia County)
http://www.volusia.org/
sheriff/Sex%20Offenders/Predators/default.htm

Absconded Sex Offenders (Volusia County)
http://www.volusia.org/sheriff/
Sex%20Offenders/Absconded/default.htm

Sexual Predators and Sexual Offenders
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/

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PUBLIC SAFETY IN THE PORT ORANGE AREA