Deltona

Preliminary investigation: Speeding may have been a factor in fatality

The map shows the location of the 12:30 p.m. Tuesday Deltona fatality.

DELTONA -- A 20-year-old DeBary man became Volusia County's first highway fatality of the new year when he lost control of his motorcyle on DeBary Avenue near the intersection of Providence Boulevard and struck a stop sign before crashing the bike, a Sheriff's spokesman said.

This guest blog is written exclusiveby for Headline Surfer

Let our New Years resolution be this, we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word -- Goran Persson

DELTONA -- As we welcome in the new year, I want to take this opportunity to wish you the very best for 2013.

Let us take a moment to celebrate all that is good and right with our country, our county and our cities. And reflect on the challenges and opportunities that will come our way this year.

Headline Surfer endorsement: Nancy Schleicher

DELTONA -- Admittedly, we know very little about the inner political workings in Deltona municipal government, but after reviewing the candidacies of the candidates for the non-partisan dist. 4 city commission seat, we believe Nancy Schleicher is well versed on the issues and has continued her commitment to monitoring public meetings despite coming up short in a previous run for office.

Schleicher, 65, a Democrat and retired school teacher with 33 years in the Deltona public schools, lost to Paul Treusch in 2007, and since then has attended every city commission meeting and it shows in her knowledge of topics like upgrading sewers, looking at CRA districts and code enforcement issues in a city that has seen tremendous growth in the last two decades. Her list of civic achievements is unparalleled in Deltona.

DELTONA -- Webster Barnaby wants to bring "integrity, jobs and prosperity" to the table as his platform as district 2 Deltona Commissioner. We believe he will try and do just that.

Barnaby, a man of Christian faith, makes no bones about his intentions on his campaign website putting his community and family at the forefront of his candidacy: "I am a real person that truly loves Deltona. I have lived here for over 21 years. Over 25 years married with a wonderful wife and 2 great children. My daughter is at the University of Florida and my son is serving our country at the United States Naval Academy. I have served for 3 years as the PTA president for Trinity Christian Academy. I am member of the Board of Directors for Trinity Assembly of God."

If you see this child, Adriel Thomas, reported missing in Deltona by his mother, please call 9-1-1.

DELTONA -- A 12-year-old Deltona boy, who has a history of being a runaway has been missing since Tuesday evening, Volusia Conty Sheriff's officials said this afternoon.

Adriel Thomas had left a friend's house and was supposed to ride his bicycle three blocks back to his home. But about two hours later when Thomas had still not arrived home, his mother called the Sheriff's Office for help.

"Thomas has run away in the past, but never at night and he had never been gone for long," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "His mother said that Thomas had been upset recently because she had turned off his cell phone service."

Deputies responded to the boy's home, 665 Wing Terrace, after his mother had called at about 9:26 p.m. She said that Thomas had been at a friend's house in the 1100 block of Whitewood Drive and had left there to return home on his bike at about 7 p.m.

The graphic pinpoints the scene of a deadly Deltona vehicle vs. pedestrian accident at a shoppng plaza at 1200 Deltona Blvd.

DELTONA -- An 84-year-old woman was struck and killed by a vehicle while walking in a Deltona shopping plaza parking lot Saturday afternoon by a 17-year-old Orange City boy behind the wheel of a van, a Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

Rosa Mangan, who just turned 84 on May 1, was prounounced dead at the scene of the 4 p.m. accident in a shopping plaza at 1200 Deltona Blvd.

"The boy was with his family and they were preparing to go into a laundromat," Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said. "They had just unloaded their clothes while parked alongside a curb and the boy's mother then told the boy to drive their van over to a parking spot. The boy was in the roadway in front of the businesses when his foot slipped off the brake and hit the accelerator."

The CVS pharmacy on Howland Boulevard in Deltona was the target early Sunday of a cross-dressing robber with a green wig, black lipstick and a handbag.

DELTONA -- A cross-dressing thief claiming to have a bomb failed early this morning morning in an attempt to rob a Deltona drug store of its prescription pills after the pharmacist refused to give him what he craved.

The would-be-robber ran from the CVS pharmacy, 2187 Howland Blvd., empty-handed just before 6 a.m. and managed to get away just prior to the arrival of responding Volusia County Sheriff's deputies.

"Witnesses said the suspect -- they weren't sure if it was a man or a woman -- claimed that their children were being held hostage," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "The suspect also claimed to have a bomb and threatened to blow up the store if the prescription drugs weren't handed over."

DELTONA -- The jazz concert scheduled for tonight in the Deltona Amphitheater has been cancelled because of the rain. The concert will likely be rescheduled for some time in July.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused,"Deltona spokeswoman Wendi Jackson said. "Please have a safe evening."

VCSO: 17-year-old female driver punched in the face

DELTONA -- A 21-year-old man was shot in the leg after an apparent case of road rage led to a melee and gunfire outside of a Deltona home early this morning, a Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

Several bullets were fired into the home on Galena Terrace, with one of the rounds striking a victim inside the house, agency spokesman Gary Davidson said of the 12:30 a.m. Sunday incident.

The incident started at about 12:30 a.m., when a 17-year-old girl driving to her home at 1432 Galena Terrace said she got behind a slow-moving vehicle on Elkcam Boulevard. The teen pulled up close to the vehicle to see if it would speed up, but instead the driver of the vehicle in front of her started applying the brakes.