Headline Surfer® graphic / DELTONA, Fla. -- Volusia County sheriff’s deputies tracked down and arrested eight juveniles in connection with the Wednesday afternoon robbery of a pizza delivery driver in Deltona, an agency spokesman said.
Deputies responded around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday after the driver, Colton Reisner, of a local Papa John's, said he was robbed at a house at 1037 Abagail Drive.
Reisner didn’t report any weapons used in the robbery, or any money stolen. He said some of the teens snuck up and threw a blanket or sheet over his head when he knocked on the front door, then took off with pizza, chicken wings and soda. The house was vacant.
The thieves -- all of them boys ranging in age from 13 to 16 -- were last seen running, carrying pizza boxes, toward Discovery Elementary School, possibly down a trail into a wooded area.
"Two deputies headed down the trail with a canine to search for the teens. Along the way, they found three pizza boxes, empty Pepsi and Mountain Dew bottles and several footprints," VCSO spokesman Andrew Gant told Headline Surfer®. "Meanwhile, another deputy searching the area found four juveniles out walking. Because one of them matched a witness description, the deputy asked him if he’d had any Pepsi lately. The young man replied that the 'the pizza man' had given him a couple of bottles earlier."
"Two deputies headed down the trail with a canine to search for the teens. Along the way, they found three pizza boxes, empty Pepsi and Mountain Dew bottles and several footprints," VCSO spokesman Andrew Gant told Headline Surfer®. "Meanwhile, another deputy searching the area found four juveniles out walking. Because one of them matched a witness description, the deputy asked him if he’d had any Pepsi lately. The young man replied that the 'the pizza man' had given him a couple of bottles earlier."
Patrolling deputies found two more juveniles in the area, and two others were identified through the course of interviews, Gant said, adding all eight were charged with robbery by sudden snatching, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary to an unoccupied dwelling. They include three 13-year-olds, a 14-year-old, two 15-year-olds and two 16-year-olds.