'Just fishing': Suspect hides in pond after attempted robbery

It didn’t take long for Volusia County sheriff’s deputies and a K-9 to track down a suspect Saturday night after he unsuccessfully tried to rob a Deltona Family Dollar store, then tried in vain to hide from law enforcement in a nearby pond.

When deputies closed in on the suspect, 29-year-old Sean Torres (DOB 2/23/1987) of Daytona Beach, he was submerged with only his face out of the water. Torres tried explaining that he was “just fishing” and that his fishing pole was in the water. Of the attempted robbery, he claimed “the guy who did it went that way.”

The Sheriff’s Office had been alerted to the incident around 8:36 p.m. at the Family Dollar at 951 Doyle Road. Deputies learned a white male with his shirt on his head and a large “Loyalty” tattoo on his stomach demanded money from the store clerk. When the clerk said no, the suspect threatened to shoot him, and reached into the back of his shorts as if he had a gun. Then he ran away without any money.

The VCSO’s Air One helicopter arrived in the area quickly and spotted a person near the edge of a pond next to the store. The helicopter crew guided deputies and a K-9 unit to the area as Torres moved from the edge of the pond into the water. As they moved closer, Torres surrendered with his hands up and slowly trudged back to land, saying he did not want to be bit and would not hurt K-9 Jago. Deputies noticed a “Loyalty” tattoo across his stomach. The store clerk recognized Torres as the suspect who tried to rob the store. The owner of the property with the pond told deputies he’d never seen Torres before and never gave him permission to go fishing.

Torres was taken into custody, and while in the back of a VCSO patrol car, he repeatedly shouted and threw himself against the interior, kicking the doors, damaging the vehicle and causing it to rock. In addition to his robbery charge, Torres was taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail on a charge of criminal mischief. He remained there Sunday on $30,500 bail.