Saturday morning was my time to sleep in until I heard the police sirens pass by from cop cars whizzing by to the pharmacy up the street. It didn't take long to learn that an armed robber had been shot dead.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Harry Lodia, manager of the Marathon gas station and convenience store on North Dixie asked aloud what is likely on the minds of many merchants in the wake of a would-be robber's attempt to hold up the Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy up the street when he was shot dead earlier today: "Who's next?"
With merchants already struggling to make an honest living in an ailing economy, it seems criminals are becoming more desperate, too, Lodia, said he worries about the safety not only of employees, but their customers as well.
"You just never know if you are next," said Lodia, who is keenly aware of New Smyrna Beach's recent crime wave. He's not alone.
Here is a listing of the crimes that have kept New Smyrna Beach cops hopping prior to this morning's fatal shooting of a would-be pharmacy robber. They include an earlier armed robbery of a supermarket pharmacy, an armed robbery/stabbing in a department store, an armed robbery-beating in a yard, a carjacking and beating, a stolen vehicle chase and a prowling car burglar -- all in the past couple of weeks:
NSBNEWS.net video by Sera King. New Smyrna Beach police Sgt. Eugene Griffith (left in video) was among several officers and detectives investigating Saturday's 10:15 a.m. deadly shooting of a would-be masked robber by a plain-clothes security guard hired by the Medicine Shoppes pharmacy on North Dixie Freeway after the owner reportedly received information that someone was planning to rob it of the addictive painkiller Oxycodone. Police have not identified the dead robber, described only as a white man nor the identity of the security guard, possibly a retired sheriff's deputy. This was the seventh major crime situation to occur in the city in the past two weeks. New Smyrna Beach police were assisted by the Florida Law Enforcement, the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office and the State Attorney's homicide squad.
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New Smyrna Beach officials are not taking the recent crime wave lightly and had some strong words for would-be criminals in the wake of Saturday's fatal shooting of an armed masked-man who was shot dead after trying to rob a pharmacy.
"We need to send a strong message," City Commissioner Randy Richenberg said late Saturday night. "New Smyrna is not the place that you want to come to rob, steal, accost or anything else."
Mayor Sally Mackay went even further, saying she plans to huddle first thing Monday morning with City Manager John Hagood and Police Chief Ronald Pagano to demonstrate support for the city's public safety efforts in spite of tough fiscal times. "I am always concerned about the safety of the citizens of our city," the mayor said. "We have to maintain our first reponders on the street -- police and fire."
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NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick. Mark McConnell, a supervisor with Aftermath Inc., oversees a clean-up crew Sunday charged with sanitizing the bloody scene left by Saturday's fatal shooting of an armed robber at the Medicine Shoppe on North Dixie Freeway in New Smyrna Beach.
The people in New Smyrna have got to be just a little unnerved by the wave of violence that has cropped up in our sleepy little town. Saturday's fatal shooting of the armed robber at the Medicine Shoppe on North Dixie Freeway elicits very mixed emotions. On one hand there has to be a certain amount of satisfaction from seeing a really bad guy get a good dose of his own medicine. The plainclothes guard hired by the Medicine Shoppe did a very professional job and is to be commended. On the other hand is the fear of what’s going to happen next since this is just the latest in a series of violent crimes over the last couple of weeks.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Whether you’re trying to navigate the Internet or still looking for the computer’s on/off switch, the New Smyrna Beach Regional Library has beginner computer classes that can help you find your way, said Pat Kuehn, Volusia County spokeswoman.
A Computer Basics class will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 4. This class is for people with little or no computer experience who want to
learn about the components of a computer and get acquainted with terminology. Participants will explore some of the functions and features of the Windows operating system.
DELTONA -- A would-be robber was hauled off to jail on Saturday by Volusia County Sheriff's deputies after a clerk at the Deltona Chevron on Deltona
Boulevard called the criminal's bluff, agency spokesman Gary Davidson reported.
