COPS CORNER

MARCH 17 SWINDLER ON THE ROOF

1:05 p.m. — 900 block of Buena Vista Avenue, Ormond Beach Fraud. An Ormond Beach resident called police after he paid a $2,500 deposit to a fraudulent roofing company.

The resident reported that he was quoted $4,600 to repair his roof and that the individual he spoke with asked for the rest of the money before beginning the roof repair. The resident refused, and was informed that the roof would be completed by March 4, according to a police report.

It was not. In fact, the resident told police, no work had ever been started, and he asked for a refund. However, each time he spoke with the roofer, he was given excuses for why the roofer couldn’t return the money.

Police were unable to find any information showing that the roofing company was a legitimate business, and that the listed address for the company was for a gas station. The resident wished to press charges.

ALL THAT FOR A TATT

3:44 p.m. — Old Kings Road, Palm Coast Disorderly conduct, threatening a public servant. A Palm Coast man was arrested after he entered a tattoo parlor and allegedly began threatening to shoot people when he was asked to wait.

Deputies were called but the man had left the parlor and was located two businesses down. The suspect was slurring his words and smelled of alcohol, according to the man’s arrest report.

The suspect was “highly argumentative” when deputies placed him in a patrol car, kicking against the door and rear window while deputies took statements from inside the tattoo parlor. On the way to jail, the suspect threatened to beat the officers.

The man was charged with disorderly conduct and threatening a public servant.

March 20

Everything But The Kitchen Sink

11:51 a.m. — 600 block of North Nova Road, Ormond Beach Larceny. Police responded to a local condominium after a unit owner reported that someone had stolen all his door knobs, plus cabinet hardware and a dishwasher, refrigerator and microwave.

The owner suspected former tenants were responsible. The owner told police that they had also left the water running in the unit, causing about $3,500 in water damage to three floors, according to a police incident report.

The owner told officers staff had noticed the water was leaking the night before and turned it off, only to return the next day to see the water had been turned on again, allegedly by the former tenants, as they were spotted on surveillance video leaving the property with the missing items.

MARCH 21 MOVING PROBLEMS

3:34 p.m. — Crossbar Way, Palm Coast Disturbance with weapons. A Palm Coast resident was so irate about a moving truck partially blocking his driveway that he allegedly grabbed his firearm.

Two employees from a furniture moving company were at a house and parked the truck while they worked. The neighbor came outside and began ordering the employees to move their truck, swearing at them, according to an incident report.

When the employees did not immediately move the truck, the man began yelling and lifted his shirt to show his firearm, grabbing the gun’s grip, according to the report.

Deputies were called to the scene. When they spoke to the man, he admitted to displaying his firearm and told deputies that the employees acted “arrogantly,” the report said.

Neither employee opted to press charges against the man. They finished their work to leave in peace.

False bomb threat had deputies searching Walmart’s bathrooms

A false bomb threat made at Walmart on March 29 had Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies searching the store’s toilets.

The threat was called into the pharmacy’s phone line at 4:18 p.m., according to the FCSO’s incident report for the bomb threat. A pharmacy technician who answered the call told the store’s general manager that the caller sounded like a juvenile male. The caller said, “I dropped a bomb in your toilet,” before hanging up.

The false threat prompted an immediate evacuation of the store according to Walmart’s policies, the report said.

When FCSO deputies arrived, the bathrooms were cleared of people and blocked off while the store was being evacuated. Once the store was cleared of people, FCSO K-9 units searched it.

The store was given the all-clear at 5:39 p.m., the report said, with nothing suspicious found.

The general manager gave deputies the caller ID information, a 904 phone number with a woman’s name. FCSO’s Intel Unit will be following up on the incident, the report said.

Second suspect arrested in threat against Chitwood

Another out-of-state 4chan user who posted an online threat to kill Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood has been arrested in California.

Tyler Meyer, 30, was arrested Friday, March 31, by the San Diego Police Department.

Meyer’s anonymous post in the “Politically Incorrect” board on 4chan stated: “It’s too bad Mike Chitwood isn’t safe now that I’m planning to kill him. I’m going to shoot Mike Chitwood. I’m going to kill him by shooting him to death.”

The FBI flagged the threat, traced it, and identified and contacted Meyer, who was initially hesitant to admit to posting the threat. He ultimately admitted to writing the post after being shown an image of it.

Multiple firearms, ammunition and electronics were seized from Meyer’s home.

Meyer is charged with making a written threat to kill or injure, a second-degree felony which carries a bond of $100,000. He is in custody in San Diego pending extradition to Volusia County.

Sheriff Chitwood again thanked all the members of VSO, the FBI, the Office of State Attorney R.J. Larizza and the San Diego Police Department who worked on the case.

Chitwood and his family have received threatening or harassing messages after he condemned neoNazi hate groups who have recently targeted Volusia County and other areas in Florida.

On March 13, a New Jersey man was arrested in New Jersey following a similar 4chan post about Chitwood. The suspect, 38-year-old Richard Golden, has since been extradited to Florida. Golden remains in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $100,000 bond.

OBMS given ‘all clear’ after bomb threat issued via AirDrop

A threat that caused Ormond Beach Middle School to evacuate students out of the cafeteria Friday was not credible, and law enforcement issued an “all clear,” according to Volusia County Schools.

Parents received a call from the school notifying them of the threat at around 10:42 a.m., based on a screenshot provided to the Observer. The voicemail told parents that a threat was AirDropped in the cafeteria before the start of the school day.

AirDrop is an Apple technology that allows Apple device users to wirelessly send photos, videos and other media to other Apple devices.

After evacuating students and staff from the cafeteria, the school was placed on a “hold.”

This incident followed a similar threat that had been AirDropped during an Ormond Beach Middle School basketball game against Campbell Middle School Thursday night.

Though VCS didn’t specify the nature of the threat, social media posts by parents of students, along with emails sent to the Observer, said it was a bomb threat.

“Volusia County Schools takes all reports of threats seriously, and we thank our administration and law enforcement for quickly handling these situations,” the statement by VCS said. “We also appreciate our students, who continue to notify school officials when they see or hear any suspicious activity.”

Bunnell man, 73, charged with indecent exposure

A man has been arrested after he allegedly exposed his genitals to a woman and smelled her hair.

The incident happened March 27. The man, 73-year-old Donald George Argraves, was arrested by the Bunnell Police Department on April 2. Argraves lives in a community in Bunnell, and the victim works at the community’s clubhouse. The victim told BPD officers she was speaking to Argraves at the clubhouse while she worked on her computer when she began to hear him moaning behind her, the arrest report said. Without turning around, the victim looked at the surveillance footage on her computer and saw Argraves sitting in a chair, touching himself and exposing his genitals, the report said. Argraves then got up and walked up behind her to touch and smell her hair, telling the victim it smelled pretty.

The victim then told Argraves to leave the office, and she stepped out to call her supervisor and BPD.

Officers reviewed the footage, which showed Argraves touching his groin area through his pants and later walking behind the victim. Because of the camera’s angle, BPD officers could not see what Argraves was doing. He admitted to smelling the victim’s hair, the report said.

BPD discovered that Argraves had a criminal history in New Jersey: one felony lewdness conviction from 2002, and two 2020 stalking and lewdness charges that were later dropped.

Argraves was arrested and taken to the county jail, where he later posted bond.

He is charged with felony indecent exposure and misdemeanor battery.