Crime

Headline Surfer graphic / A man is in critical condition in the wake of an early Saturday shooting outside Papi's Bottle Club, located on North Nova Road near Daytona Beach as shown in this locator map.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is investigating a shooting early this morning in the parking lot of a bottle club near Daytona Beach that left a man critically injured, an agency spokesman said.

"The shooting occurred at about 4:58 a.m., just as a crowd was gathering outside of Papi's Bottle Club on North Nova Road," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer. "Two deputies were close enough to the scene to hear a fight breaking out in the parking lot. As the deputies drove to the scene, they heard a gunshot ring out and then saw the crowd scatter."

Photo for Headline Surfer / If you know this man, whose image was captured by a surveillance  camera, while robbing the Denny's on West Vine Street in Kissimmee, then please call the Kissimmee cops at 407-846-3333 or or CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477).

KISSIMMEE -- A man who led a cashier to believe he had a gun when he robbed the Denny's restaurant on West Vine Street at 3 a.m. Tuesday, has a unique feature that could make it easier for good samaritans to spot him, say Kissimmee cops: He has a tear drop tattoo under his right eye that is not filled in.

Stacie Miller, a Kissimmee police spokeswoman, said the robber implied he was armed, even though "no gun was displayed," but the tattoo under his right eye is as clear as day. is clear as day.

Headline Surfer graphic / Jermaine Green, shown here in a prior Volusia County Branch Jail mug, and the suspect shot by cops early on this Wednesday morning, has a lengthy arrest record.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Violent crime continues unabated in Daytona Beach with a report of city cops forced to open fire on a man who had a knife to a woman's throat and plunging it into her chest inside a residence in the 800 block of Magnolia Avenue, according to WESH TV.

The shooting happened after two officers responded to a domestic dispute call at 2:45 a.m. during which cops were forced to break down the door when nobody answered, Police Chief Michael Chitwood told the Orlando TV station.

Headline Surfer graphic / A man with a large knife held up the 7-Eleven, 839 DeBary Ave., in Deltona, as shown in this locator map. 

The clerk told deputies that he was in the back room washing dishes and when he turned around and saw a man with two shirts covering his face standing behind him and pointing a large kitchen knife pointed at him.

"The robber ordered the clerk to open the cash register," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer, and when the clerk complied, "the suspect grabbed money from the register and then ran out the door and headed southbound."

Photo for Headline surfer / Krtisty Nandoo, 19, of Apopka, was the driver of a Mustang that struck a boy on a bicycle and then fled the scene -- State Road 436, east of Thompson Road -- as shown in the locator map here on Monday night, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. 

APOPKA -- The motorist behind the wheel of a Mustang was a mere three years older than the 16-year-old boy on a bicycle, whose body was thrown onto her windshield before bouncing off as she fled the scene of the deadly hit-and-run.

Photo for Headline Surfer / A manhunt Wednesday resulted in the apprehension of convicted sex offender Luis Alberto Hernandez Dejesus who earlier in the day broke free from a deputy in New Smyrna Beach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 31-year-old convicted sex offender who broke free from a Volusia County Sheriff's deputy in New Smyrna Beach earlier in the day Wednesday, was apprehended and taken into custody just after 11 p.m., an agency spokesman said.

Luis Alberto Hernandez Dejesus stayed hidden for several hours after fighting with a Volusia County Sheriff's Office deputy and escaping his arrest while still handcuffed But he finally came out of hiding late Wednesday night and when he did, deputies nabbed him.

Vehicle found abandoned in Sanford

Headline Surfer graphic / An alert cab driver used a little trickery on Sunday to escape from a gun-toting customers, but had his taxi stolen at the intersection of Volusia and Graves avenues in Orange City 8 a.m. Sunday as shown at left.

ORANGE CITY -- A taxi driver was held up at gunpoint early this morning and ordered to drive a man and woman to Orange city before he escaped at the intersection of Volusia and Graves avenues, A Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

The 2002 Dodge Caravan was later recovered abandoned in Sanford and the duo remain at large.

Photo for Headline Surfer / Ranell Holley was being held Thursday in the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach on charges of defrauding cusomers along his mail route.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Some residents near New Smyrna Beach had been relying on the services of one particular mailman for several years and had developed a trusting relationship with him. But Randell Holley, 67, is now accused of using that trust to essentially steal from his customers in a scheme that goes back to at least 2010.

Volusia County Sheriff's investigators arrested Holley earlier today and charged him with organized scheme to defraud. He was booked into the Volusia County Branch jail on $10,000 bond.

"According to more than a dozen of his customers who investigators have recently spoken with, Holley had a simple and consistent method of getting some quick cash when he felt he needed it," Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Like father, like son: For the first time in the history of the police department, the City of New Smyrna Beach has two generations of police officers.

When deciding which police department he wanted to work for, Shawn Adkins, son of NSBPD Investigator David Atkins, said it was an easy decision: “My Dad has been really successful at this agency and I have always felt like it was part of my family.”

DELAND -- The Volusia County Grand Jury returned an Indictment earlier today against against Brian McLane that accuses him of first-degree murder, a capital felony, in relation to the death of his Edgewater roommate on June 3.

The defendant and the victim, 71-year-old Richard Carton, were roommates in a mobile home. The victim was found dead of asphyxiation and/or suffocation.

McLane's indictment paves the way for the office of State Attorney R.J. Larizza to consider whether it will seek the death penalty at trial. LaRizza's office does not comment until a decision has beenmade inhouse whether to seek the death penalty or life in prison without parole.