DeLand, FL – A 35-year-old man faces a slew of charges after investigators tie him to at least 4 different crimes over a 24-hour period, including the robbery of a convenience store and 3 vehicle break-ins.
As of 5:30pm Tuesday, John Clark is held on $21,000 bond at Volusia County Jail on 2 counts each of burglary and petit theft, robbery, grand theft auto, prescription pill possession and driving with a suspended license.
Volusia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Andrew Gant says Clark’s crime spree came to an end when a DeLand police officer found him on Tuesday afternoon driving a car that had been reported stolen in Lake County.
“The police officer stopped Clark outside the Winn-Dixie grocery store at 1050 West New York Avenue,” Gant noted. “Deputies found various items in the car, including 2 cell phones, an iPod, a digital camera, a laptop and paperwork belonging to a dance academy, a bag of hypodermic needles, a bag of change, a wallet, a watch and a bottle of Xanax.”
Most of those items, according to deputies, were taken over the past 24 hours as Clark broke into vehicles around DeLand and also robbed a gas station convenience store.
Investigators think it began around 12:30pm Monday at the Hontoon Convenience Store on Old New York Avenue. That’s when Clark admitted to taking an iced tea to the cash register and then snatching money from the cash register when the clerk opened it to process Clark’s payment, according to Gant.
VCSO also tied Clark to at least 3 vehicle burglaries that took place on Tuesday, starting with a vehicle that was at the Kangaroo gas station at 2185 West New York Avenue.
“The victim walked out of the gas station around 6:30am and spotted someone in his car,” Gant added. “The suspect took off in another vehicle, but the victim was able to provide deputies with a tag number and description.”
It was soon after that when a DeLand man called to say someone tried to break into a pickup truck parked underneath his covered carport, per Gant.
“The carport had video surveillance,” Gant noted. “The suspect was caught on camera. The car matched the description provided in the previous break-in.”
It was that information which helped the DeLand police officer find Clark driving the stolen vehicle later on in the day.
“When a deputy showed up, Clark confessed to both [vehicle break-ins],” Gant added. “Clark also confessed that he was the man who [robbed] the Hontoon Convenience Store.”
VCSO says the laptop, paperwork and coins found in Clark’s car were likely taken from another vehicle sometime Tuesday morning as it was parked on Pratt Street.
Additional charges are possible, according to investigators.
VCJ records show Clark has been booked there 3 other times since February 2002, but his most recent arrest before Tuesday came in October 2008. His charges in those 3 incidents weren’t made available on VCJ’s website.
John Clark (mugshot courtesy Volusia County Jail)
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