The CVS pharmacy on Howland Boulevard in Deltona was the target early Sunday of a cross-dressing robber with a green wig, black lipstick and a handbag.
DELTONA -- A cross-dressing thief claiming to have a bomb failed early this morning morning in an attempt to rob a Deltona drug store of its prescription pills after the pharmacist refused to give him what he craved.
The would-be-robber ran from the CVS pharmacy, 2187 Howland Blvd., empty-handed just before 6 a.m. and managed to get away just prior to the arrival of responding Volusia County Sheriff's deputies.
"Witnesses said the suspect -- they weren't sure if it was a man or a woman -- claimed that their children were being held hostage," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "The suspect also claimed to have a bomb and threatened to blow up the store if the prescription drugs weren't handed over."
The thief flashed a cardboard box from a handbag, but the pharmacist said it didn't have any wires or electronics and just appeared to be a plain box, so he ordered the robber out of the store.
"Very weird" was the pharmacist's response when asked by a Sheriff's Office telecommunicator what the robber looked like, Davidson said.
"Witnesses reported that the suspect appeared to be a cross-dressing man, but also said the robber had feminine-looking features," the sheriff's spokesman said, adding the robber appeared to be Hispanic and approximately 30-years-old and 5 feet 9, tall, with a thin build. He was wearing glasses and black lipstick. The clothing description included blue jeans, a green, long sleeve shirt and a green, shoulder-length wig.
Deputies rushing to the crime scene arrived within three minutes of the 5:55 a.m. 9-1-1 call from the pharmacist and began setting up a perimeter and launching a search with the assistance of a Sheriff's Office helicopter and K-9 unit, but the cross dresser slipped away.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, toll-free, at (888) 277-TIPS. Resident can also text a tip by texting "TIP231 plus the message" to CRIMES. Tipsters who provide information to Crime Stoppers will remain anonymous and can qualify for a reward of up to $1,000.