Daytona Beach, FL – A 35-year-old Daytona Beach man is behind bars for allegedly biting a store clerk’s arm while shoplifting.
Michael B. Edwards was arrested around 5:30 Tuesday afternoon by the Daytona Beach Police Department and is held on $6,500 bond at Volusia County Jail on charges of robbery, cocaine possession, drug paraphernalia possession and resisting an officer.
It all started around 9am Tuesday at the Family Dollar store on 715 Mason Avenue, according to the arrest report.
A 29-year-old store manager told police she saw Edwards come into the store and take 2 large gift bags from a shelf, which he then filled with items taken off shelves throughout the store.
Per the report, Edwards tried to leave the store a few minutes later without paying for the items and the store manager blocked his way by holding the front doors closed.
It was at that point, according to the manager, when Edwards and her got into a struggle that ended with him biting her right forearm hard enough to where she lost her grip on the door handle.
Edwards then pushed the woman’s hand aside, left the store with the gift bags and jumped on a bicycle which he used to go westbound on Mason Avenue.
Responding officers say the woman had a “visible” bite mark on her right forearm when they got on scene. She was treated on scene by paramedics, per the report.
The store manager also told officers that the suspect told her during the fight that “I’m leaving with what I came here to get. Get out of my way.”
A witness in the parking lot recognized Edwards as he left the store and gave his name and full description to police, per the report.
DBPD found Edwards later on in the day at another Family Dollar store (200 North Ridgewood Avenue) after that store’s manager called the police to report a suspicious shoplifter.
According to that report, Edwards was still in the store when the officer approached him and he tried to walk away from the officer before the officer got handcuffs on him.
A pat-down search turned up a crack pipe with cocaine residue in Edwards’ pants, per the report.
Edwards was arrested after the store manager whose arm was bitten identified him in a photo lineup as the man who did it.
VCJ records show Edwards has been booked 6 other times since June 2001. His charges were not made available on the VCJ website.
Michael B. Edwards (mugshot courtesy VCJ)
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