Volusia County Chair Frank Bruno: County Manager Jim Dinneen's county-issued SUV stolen in South Daytona

Jim DinneenCourtesy photo / Jim Dinneen, Volusia County manager

SOUTH DAYTONA -- Volusia County Manager Jim Dinneen was unable to take a trip to Orlando to board a plane to Washington because someone stole his county-issued SUV, County Chairman Frank Bruno told NSBNews.net by phone tonight.

"It happened Sunday afternoon," Bruno told NSBNews.net in a 7:30 p.m. phone interview from Washington D.C. where he and other elected officials from Central Florida were visiting the White House earlier today. "He heard someone starting it up and looked out the window and saw some teen-age kid driving off," said Bruno, in Washington as chairman of the rail commission during a two-day visit, before flying back Tuesday night. "He was supposed to go with me to the airport. His wallet, his license, everything was in the vehicle. I think it was a GMC sport utility."

Bruno said he didn't have any other details and Dinneen could not be reached for comment. County spokesman Dave Byron did not return a telephone message left by NSBNews.net for comment.

NSBNews.net placed three calls to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office over a 90-minute period before a patrol sergeant from the South Daytona police force called back. That sergeant referred comment to Lt. Ron Wright who did not return a subsequent call for comment.

One of the key questions NSBNews.net would have wanted to know was whether Dinneen left the keys in the vehicle as well or how police could explain the teen drove off with it.