Photos for Headline Surfer® / DELTONA, Fla. -- The Deltona man shot in the face by a Volusia County Sheriff's deputy while serving a drug warrant at a residence in Deltona this morning has died, an agency spokesman said. Derek Cruice, 26, was pronounced dead on arrival at Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City where he was transported after he was shot by a SWAT deputy just after 6:30 a.m.
"(The victim) was one of six adults who were at the house this morning -- four men and two women," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer. "Deputies were there to serve a narcotics search warrant."
Here is a synopsis of what happened leading up to the fatal confrontation as described by Davidson in a written statement: Deputies were deployed at 831 Maybrook Drive to serve the warrant when someone in the house advanced on a member of the SWAT Team who was entering the residence."
Davidson continued: "At about 6:32 a.m. the deputy opened fire one time, shooting the suspect in the face while just inside the doorway of the home. He was transported by ambulance to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City as a trauma alert."
Sherif's investigators were informed Cruice was pronounced died at the hospital.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be investigating the shooting, which is customary in officer-involved shootings, Sherif Ben Johnson told reporters at the scene during a mid-morning press conference. Johnson declined to discuss circumstances that led to the deadly confrontation while an investigation is ongoing.
While no information was released on specific details related to the drug warrant, this was not Cruice's first brush with the law related to drugs.
Cruice was allowed by the Office of State Attorney RJ Larizza to avoid making a plea involving a 2009 felony charge of possession of cannabis in excess of 20 grams, and instead allowed to enter into a pre-trial intervention in Circuit Judge James R. Clayton's courtroom at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand. Once Cruice cleared that hurdle, the felony charge was dismissed. Had Cruice been convicted of the felony at trial he coul have faced a year or more in prison.
While no information was released on specific details related to the drug warrant, this was not Cruice's first brush with the law related to drugs. Cruice was allowed by the Office of State Attorney RJ Larizza to avoid making a plea involving a 2009 felony charge of possession of cannabis in excess of 20 grams, and instead allowed to enter into a pre-trial intervention in Circuit Judge James R. Clayton's courtroom at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand. Once Cruice cleared that hurdle, the felony charge was dismissed. Had Cruice been convicted of the felony at trial he coul have faced a year or more in prison.
The deputy who fired the fatal shot has been identified as Todd Raible, 36, who was hired by the Sheriff’s Office in March 2005.
Raible has been temporarily placed on administrative leave, also customary in officer-involved shootings, the sheriff said.
FAST FACTS: Drug warrant suspect, Derek Cruice, shot to death by a VCSO SWAT deputy Wednesday:
• Was 26 years old, originally from Pensacola and attended Pine Ridge High School in Deltona, where he lived and worked as a pizza chauffeur, according to his Facebook page profile;
• Lived in Deltona where he was involved in a relationship with Samantha Sterrett since 2009, as described in his Facebook page profile;
• Here is a communication between Cruice and his girlfriend, Sterrett as shown on her Facebook page:
