Man steals 'stolen' scooter, dumps it in ditch for police to find

This week in Cops Corner...


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Sept. 17

A bad idea

9:44 p.m. — 600 block of West Granada Boulevard, Ormond Beach

Grand theft. Police were dispatched to a local gas station after reports that an unknown man had stolen an employee's scooter. 

The employee told the reporting officer that he had been outside changing the trash cans at the gas pumps when he noticed a scooter parked near his. He saw a man bending over and standing back up, but was unable to see what the man was specifically doing, according to a police report. A short while later, he recognized the sound of his scooter starting up and saw the man take off at a high speed. The man left behind his motorcycle in the scooter's place.

While police were investigating this incident and obtaining security footage, the employee notified that there was a suspicious man was outside, and that he believed he was the man who stole his scooter. The man, 40, of South Daytona, was located in front of the store and detained. 

The man initially stated that he had no knowledge of what was going on, according to the police report, but after further questioning and a statement from the employee saying he would not press charges if he told him where his scooter was, the man said that it was in a ditch near a storage facility. 

The man said that the scooter "stalled out" on him down the road after he took it, and that he had to push it the rest of the way where he dumped it. He said he had taken it because he believed it was stolen, and claimed he was planning to take it to the police department but didn't realize how far it was while pushing it. Then, he told police he realized this "might be a bad idea" and left the scooter in the ditch — he assumed the police department would find it.

He was additionally found to be in possession of methamphetamine. He was taken to jail.

Sept. 20

Don't drink and drive

10:43 p.m. — Intersection of West Granada Boulevard and South Yonge Street, Ormond Beach

DUI. A police officer spotted a truck traveling at least 50 mph in a 35 mph zone, and the truck continued to accelerate while the officer tried to catch up to conduct a traffic stop. The officer noted he was going at least 70 mph at one point in his report.

He eventually was able to make contact with the driver once the truck stopped in a residential street. The officer approached the car and could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from the driver's breath. When asked, the driver, a 54-year-old Ormond Beach man, said he didn't know why the officer had stopped him and that he was headed home. He said he had not seen the officer's emergency lights, nor heard the sirens. 

The officer asked him how much he'd had to drink that night, and the man said one beer. He agreed to perform a series of field sobriety exercises, all of which he failed.

He was taken to jail.

 

 

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