DeLand, FL – Investigators want your help to find 3 men DeLand police think broke into an ice cream shop and smashed the store’s cash registers.
The DeLand Police Department released photos Wednesday of one of the suspects and the vehicle involved in the early morning burglary of the Rodeo Whip. Those photos are posted above and below this article.
DeLand PD Sergeant Chris Estes says the suspects came to the ice cream shop at 1250 South Woodland Boulevard around 5:15am Tuesday, with police responding a few minutes later because an alarm at the store had just gone off.
“3 unidentified males arrived at the Rodeo Whip in what appears to be a silver Nissan 4 door,” Estes said. ” One of the individuals broke out the glass front door with a piece of concrete, entered the business and targeted the cash register[s].”
According to the incident report, that man went into the store through the hole he created in the glass door and destroyed the cash registers by smashing it.
2 other men are seen in the video getting out of the Nissan – believed to be a late 2000’s model Nissan sedan – and waiting by the front door while the other man is inside, per the report.
Estes says all 3 men got back in the car – which was left parked in the drive-thru after it was initially parked in the rear parking lot the Rodeo Whip shares with an auto dealer – and went south on Woodland before police arrived.
“Detectives are working to identify the individuals that committed this crime and are asking for the public’s help,” Estes added.
The man who went into the store wore a black mask and black gloves, with light-colored pants and a black hoodie with white pull cords. DeLand PD believes he’s African American.
The other 2 suspects are also believed to be African American, one dark-skinned with tattoos on his arms and the other light-skinned.
According to DeLand PD, the dark-skinned suspect wore a hat, shorts and a dark-colored shirt over a light-colored shirt. Police say he used one of the shirts to hide his face from the security cameras.
The 3rd suspect wore bark-colored pants and a black hoodie he used to hide his face from the security cameras, according to the incident report.
The report noted that the video quality wasn’t good enough for police to read the license plate of the Nissan, but it did show the Nissan didn’t have tinted windows and did have a license plate frame on the front bumper with no plate inside it.
The store owner told DeLand PD afterward that around $2,000 in damage was done to the store, but nothing was missing as far as she could tell.
Anyone with information can call DeLand PD Detective I. Jones at 386-626-7426 or call Crime Stoppers at 888-277-8477 to remain anonymous and possibly qualify for a cash reward.
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