South Daytona, FL – Investigators think the suspect in 2 recent convenience store robberies and an attempted bank robbery – all in South Daytona – might be the same person.
The South Daytona Police Department is asking for help identifying the men caught on video during the October 12th robbery of the 7-Eleven on 1999 South Nova Road and the attempted robbery of the SunTrust branch at 2850 South Ridgewood Avenue on November 3rd.
SDPD Lieutenant Dan Dietrich says investigators suspect a possible connection between those cases and the early-morning Halloween robbery of the Sunoco gas station on 2000 South Ridgewood Avenue.
“We’re not saying, exactly, it’s the same guy,” Dietrich added. “It’s just the same type of [operational method]. The motorcycle, the surgical gloves.”
In the 7-Eleven case, police say the suspect used a gun to rob the store around 7am and wore similar type of clothing – a gray long sleeve hoodie, black jeans, black sneakers with white soles and a full face motorcycle helmet with a clear visor – as the suspect who robbed the Sunoco with a gun around 1am Halloween.
The suspect in those cases is described as a thin white male in his late teens to early 20’s who stands around 5’7 to 5’10 tall.
In the bank robbery, Dietrich says the suspect came in around 2pm that day wearing white surgical gloves, sunglasses and a fisherman’s bucket hat while waiting in line for a teller.
“When a bank employee asked him if he needed help, he attempted to hand a note to her stating he needed change,” Dietrich noted. “When the employee asked him to remove the hat and glasses, he complied, but left when she turned her back on him.”
That suspect rode away on a blue sport motorcycle similar to the one the suspect in the Sunoco robbery may have used to get away heading west on Big Tree Road, per Dietrich.
“We’re thinking that the guy’s escalating from 2 store robberies to now trying to do a bank robbery,” Dietrich stated.
Police believe the suspect is likely living somewhere in the Daytona Beach area.
Anyone with information is asked to contact SDPD Investigator Dion Willey at 386-322-3030 or dwilley@southdaytona.org. Those who want to remain anonymous and possibly qualify for a cash reward can call Crime Stoppers at 888-277-8477.
Photo above of SunTrust would-be robber and photo below of 7-Eleven robber are courtesy of SDPD.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.