- October 2, 2024
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9:35 a.m. — 300 block of Tomoka Avenue, Ormond Beach
Vandalism. Police suspect a disgruntled 67-year-old Ormond Beach man dropped a palm tree in his neighbor's U-shaped driveway after his neighbor refused to let him use the driveway to turn around on their dead-end street the day before.
According to a police report, officers had responded to the home on Aug. 24, when the neighbor called police to ensure his argument with the man didn't escalate. Police report the man had driven to the end of the street and wanted to use the neighbor's driveway to turn around, but was unable to as his neighbor was using it to take photos of his car.
The following day, police received another call from the neighbor when he found the large palm tree laying across his driveway. A large tarp was also left on his vehicle, with dirt inside, and a tree stump leaning up against it. The officer could see where the palm tree had been uprooted and followed the tire tracks to the man's property, which had a fork lift parked in plain view. The fork lift's tires, according to police, were a match for the tracks.
The man was having a conversation with someone over the phone when police were there investigating, and officers determined the other person on the line to be his mother. One overheard her say, on speaker, "I heard you were drunk yesterday and did something down the street," the police report notes.
Police had the fork lift towed.
8:59 p.m. — 300 block of West Granada Boulevard, Ormond Beach
DUI. A 54-year-old Ormond Beach man was arrested after police received a tip that he was drunk driving.
Officers conducted a traffic stop and smelled alcohol on his person, soon discovering that the man's license had bee previously suspended after he was arrested for driving under the influence in July while in Hillsborough County. The man showed police a temporary driving permit, which allows him to travel to maintain livelihood, according to a police report. He said he was headed to a local grocery store.
The tipster told police that the man had consumed two bottles of vodka prior to getting behind the wheel of his car. "He drives drunk every day," the tipster told police, according to the man's arrest report.
The man declined to perform field sobriety exercises or provide a breath sample. Police found that he had three prior DUI arrests, including the most recent one.
He was arrested and taken to jail.