- March 22, 2026
1:48 a.m. — 300 block of West Granada Boulevard, Ormond Beach
Battery touch/strike. A 52-year-old Ormond Beach man was arrested after he punched a local restaurant owner who was walking him outside following a dispute over a $10.36 tab.
According to a police report, when the restaurant owner approached the customer about paying his tab, the customer told him he had "already paid three tabs and refused to pay another as he was being ripped off."
The customer eventually paid the tab and was asked to leave, but refused to do so, saying he was waiting for a friend who was in the bathroom. The restaurant owner told him he could wait outside, at which point the customer became belligerent with him, the report states. The restaurant owner then asked three employees to witness him escorting the customer out of the business.
Once outside, the customer punched the restaurant owner twice. The customer told police that this was because the restaurant owner and his employees tried to push and punch him first.
Witnesses corroborated the restaurant owner's accounts. The customer was taken to jail.
10:10 a.m. — 100 block of West Granada Boulevard, Ormond Beach
Burglary. The theft of a half-burnt cigarette led to the arrest of a 57-year-old transient man, who was found to be in possession of ammunition, despite being a convicted felon.
It all started when an Ormond Beach woman was dropping off her son for a karate class. Her son hesitated as he spotted the transient, saying it looked like he was breaking into a vehicle, according to a police report. They watched as he searched the passenger side, then the driver side, and then appeared to check another vehicle, but that one was locked. The woman called police, providing them with a photo of the man.
He was located on the first block of South Ridgewood Avenue. He told police that he had recognized the first car as belonging to a friend and noticed that the door was slightly ajar when he passed. He said he stuck his head inside to "make sure it was in order" and then stole a half-burnt cigarette.
The car's owner wished to press charges. During a search of his person, police found two boxes of shotgun shells and a small amount of methamphetamine. He was taken to jail.
