- April 16, 2024
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Asked to show receipt, shoplifter says 'Here it is,' then flees
2:35 p.m. 300 block of Cypress Edge Drive. Dealing in stolen property: A hardware store employee told a Sheriff's Office deputy that a man came in the previous day, took a $119 angle grinder, then walked out through the nursery department without paying, according to the deputy's report.
The alarm went off, and store employees asked for the man's receipt. But he just held up his hands and said "here it is" while walking out, then got in a blue minivan and drove off. An employee got the tag number.
The deputy ran the tag number. The name on the registration was familiar, as was the face that showed up in the store's surveillance footage of the thief: They were those of a 38-year-old Palm Coast resident the deputy knew "through previous interactions," according to the report.
The deputy's search of a pawn shop information database showed that a man with the suspect's name had sold a grinder matching the description of the stolen one for $30 May 12 at a pawn shop on S.R. 100. The deputy went to the man's house. He admitted he'd sold a grinder at that pawn shop. The deputy arrested him.
Thief causes $350 in damage to steal $30 in change
8:42 a.m. 4900 block of Palm Coast Parkway NW. Burglary: A woman noticed that the glass front door of a pizza shop was smashed. She called the Sheriff's Office.
Deputies came to the restaurant and didn't find anyone inside. They called the owner, who came to the restaurant and said the only thing missing was a change tray from a cash register.
It had contained only about $20 or $30 in change, he told the deputies.
The bigger loss to the business was the broken front door, worth about $350. Surveillance video showed the thief smash it in with a baseball bat.
Tires slashed in two separate parts of town
300 block of Parkview Drive. Criminal mischief: People staying in two separate parts of town woke up the morning of May 22 and found their car tires slashed.
In the first case, a 33-year-old Palatka woman who was staying at a home on Parkview Drive got in her Nissan Altima at about 7 a.m. and started to pull out of the driveway when she realized something was wrong. She pulled back in. The front driver's-side tire was flat, with a large gash in the sidewall.
Then a Hastings man staying at the same address came outside and saw that the right rear tire on his Chevy Impala had been slashed, too.
Several hours later and about three miles away, on Ramblewood Drive, a 68-year-old Palm Coast man walked outside at about 10 a.m. and saw that both rear tires on his Chrysler Town and Country van had been slashed. Each rear tire had about a 2-inch gash in the sidewall.
