August 14, 2010
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

WEST VOLUSIA STREET CRIMES OPERATION YIELDS 21 ARRESTS

It was around 5 p.m. on Friday, and 30-year-old Susan Roberts was driving west on Carrol Avenue in DeLand when she was pulled over in her 1997 Buick for running a stop sign. It started as a routine traffic stop, that is until officers noticed what appeared to be scars from needle injections on Roberts’ right forearm. Roberts admitted to having recently injected a narcotic pain reliever, Percocet. Then Roberts agreed to allow officers to search her car. That’s when they found a pouch with 14 prescription pills, but no prescription for them.

Roberts was taken into custody, one of the 21 arrests on Friday in the DeLand area that was part of a crime suppression operation jointly conducted by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and DeLand Police Department. In addition to the arrests, officers from both agencies teamed up to initiate 147 citizen contacts and issue 82 traffic citations.

Approximately 25 officers from the two agencies took part in Friday’s operation, all part of periodic saturation patrols designed to target known hot spots and street-level crimes. During the operation, officers sought contacts with people who have known gang ties or are suspects in unsolved crimes. Their efforts to saturate the area and disrupt criminal activity proved effective, resulting in arrests for a variety of charges, including possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving with a suspended or expired license and open container. Roberts, of Missouri, was charged with four counts of possession of a controlled substance. Officers also seized a small amount of cocaine and marijuana along with a crack pipe during the operation and arrested several people on open warrants for charges that included burglary, robbery, grand theft, dealing in stolen property, threats against a public servant and domestic battery.

More operations are planned in the future.