By Patricio G. Balona
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
DELTONA, Fla. — Volusia County sheriff’s deputies rescued five people who had been tied up in an armed home invasion Saturday night and caught the suspects as they tried to run from the Deltona home, Volusia County sheriff’s officials said,
Three armed suspects, including one with a rifle, broke into the Deltona home in the 1400 block of Eden Drive at 10:05 p.m. Saturday and tied up a family while a small child hid in a bedroom, Volusia County sheriff’s officials said.
Investigators do not believe the home invasion was random. The victims suffered minor injuries in the incident, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Laura Williams.
When deputies got to the scene, the suspects tried to run but were caught by deputies who had the home surrounded, Williams said.
Two suspects, Jermaine Oliver, 30, and Derrick Mathis, were each was charged with home invasion robbery with a firearm, five counts of kidnapping with a firearm, one count of kidnapping of a child under 13 with a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
A third suspect, John Anderson, 39, was charged with principal to home invasion robbery with a firearm, five counts of principal to kidnapping whole armed with a firearm, and one count of principal to kidnapping of a child under 13 with a firearm.
All three were being held Sunday at the Volusia County Branch Jail, Williams said.
The 7-year-old girl was later found in the home unharmed, officials said.
At the Eden Drive home, the armed suspects, approached an open garage door and confronted two victims at gunpoint and demanded they empty their pockets, Williams said.
The suspects then entered the home, rounded up other victims and brought them out to the garage where all their hands were tied and were made to sit on the floor, investigator said.
Volusia deputies were called as the home invasion was in progress and when they arrived at the home, heard the victims screaming in the garage, Williams said.
Deputies approached the home and saw the suspects, one armed with a rifle, inside rummaging through it and were able to get the victims out of the garage and surrounded the house, Williams said.
The victims then told deputies that the 7-year-old girl was hiding in a bedroom in the house. Deputies later found her unharmed and safely released to her parents, Williams said.
The robbers became aware that some had called deputies and ran out through the garage door where deputies confronted them, Williams said.
One suspect was caught in the driveway and two others were captured in the backyard, Williams said.
(c)2020 The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla.