Courtesy photo/Jail mug. Dominique Ross, A Volusia County fugitive, was arrested Tuesday in Deltona.
DELTONA -- A local fugitive with a violent past eluded law enforcement for nearly 15 months. But that all came to an end early Tuesday morning when authorities nabbed 23-year-old Dominique Ross at a home in Deltona, Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.
Ross was wanted on eight warrants, mostly the result of violent encounters with women.
The charges range from false imprisonment, battery, aggravated assault and fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer to aggravated stalking, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and driving with a suspended license. The warrants go as far back as November 2008, while the most recent -- for false imprisonment and battery -- was issued just last month.
In four of the cases, Ross is accused of beating a woman with whom he has had an on-again, off-again relationship for more than a decade.
Here is a synopsis of law enforcement allegations that reslted in the warrant arrest: In one case, after beating the victim, Ross armed himself with a crowbar and swung it at a man who was staying with the woman. In another instance, he went to the woman's college and told the staff there that she had a family emergency. Thinking something was wrong with one of her children, the victim came out of her class and left with Ross. He then proceeded to drive her around while beating her. In another instance, Ross is accused of assaulting another woman and holding her captive in a car for about 45 minutes while he beat and choked her. He then grabbed her by the hair while driving the car, dragging the woman down the street for approximately 80 feet.
Sheriff's deputies came close to capturing Ross back in April 2009, but he fled from a traffic stop, wrecked his car and managed to get away, Davidson said.
"That led to the filing of additional charges of reckless driving and resisting arrest without violence," the Sheriff's spokesman said. "Last month, Sheriff's investigators, drug agents with the West Volusia Narcotics Task Force and the U.S. Marshal's Service joined efforts to locate Ross. Those efforts paid off when they received a tip that Ross had been recently staying at a house on Brewton Circle in Deltona."
Armed with a search warrant, investigators along with the Sheriff's Office's SWAT Team and U.S. Marshal's moved in early Tuesday morning and found Ross inside the house. He was taken into custody shortly before 6:30 a.m. and transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach, where he's being held without bond.