A Year in Review: The best Cops Corners of 2022

Crime in a small town can get interesting. Here are the most noteworthy Cops Corner entries of the year.


  • Ormond Beach Observer
  • Cops Corner
  • Share

Feb. 28

D'oh! A deer!

4:42 a.m. — First block of Box Elder Court

Information. Police were dispatched to the home of an 81-year-old Ormond Beach man after a burglary alarm went off, and the culprit turned out to be of the four-legged kind.

According to the incident report, the man told police that he had heard a loud noise before the alarm went off, and police saw that the glass door leading to a back room had been knocked down. Suspecting the home had been burglarized, the reporting officer called for a second unit to assist. The residence was cleared, and police noted the damage was only present in the back room of the home, with paintings and paint brushes scattered on the floor along with the broken glass.

That's when an officer noticed deer prints on the ground leading up to the room, as well as fur on the door and all over the room. Another officer said he had also seen a deer when he turned onto the street.

Officers thus concluded that the suspect in this case was indeed, a deer. 

April 24

Missing crash?

5:54 p.m. — 700 block of Airport Road, Ormond Beach

Aircraft crash. Police were dispatched to the airport after a pilot reported seeing a Cessna plane had crashed in the Ormond Beach area, northwest of the airport. But did a plane actually crash?

According to the incident report, several law enforcement units patrolled the area and the reporting officer spoke with a nearby aviation company employee who advised only one aircraft had flown from the airport to St. Augustine, and that the trip had been successful. Employees at the airport tower advised they had no knowledge of an aircraft crash. Law enforcement officers in Flagler County were also contacted; they didn't report any crashes there either. 

Air One was used to try to locate the aircraft, flying from Daytona Beach to Ormond Beach, but found nothing. Throughout the course of the investigation, a resident flagged down deputies and informed them they had seen a "big cloud of gray dust" on Leeway Trail and Arabian Trail, but nothing was found. Other residents advised they heard a crash or saw a "big puff of smoke" in the same area. 

There were no reports of unaccounted planes, police report. 

Aug. 2

'Trying to connect with God'

8:14 p.m. — Ormond Beach

Loitering or prowling. Someone noticed a man pulling on the door handles of a church van in a church parking lot. 

A police officer found the man in the woods nearby, according to the officer's account in an arrest report. 

The man "stated that he was a man of faith, and was trying to connect with God," the officer wrote in the report. "The defendant stated he was pushed by God to the van."

The officer tried to get the man to elaborate on why he'd approached the van, but the man "just stated that's where God pushed him," according to the officer's report.

The officer arrested him.

Oct. 14

Erratic with purpose?

10:10 a.m. — First block of South Beach Street, Ormond Beach

Fleeing/attempting to elude law enforcement. An officer was walking to his motorcycle when he heard the sounds of a car crash nearby. He then saw an SUV appearing to be "executing donuts in the roadway" before turning toward city hall, according to the police report.

Once in the city hall parking lot, the SUV came around the corner on the two driver side tires while its driver, a 52-year-old man from Daytona Beach, hung out of the open car door. The officer shouted for him to stop, to which the man, while still hanging out of the door, said "OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOO," as written verbatim in the police report. He continued to speed off, striking a parked car's driver side mirror, and then jumping over two curbs and sidewalks before crashing into a tree line.

The officer arrived to where the man had crashed to find the vehicle empty, but still running. Police began searching the scene and examining other vehicles in the parking lot for damage, when the reporting officer found the man lying face down. The man was placed under arrest.

The man said he had struck a stop sign when exiting the parking lot and had been attempting to get it "unstuck" by driving more erratically — hence, the donuts in the road. A syringe containing fentanyl was found inside his car. 

Nov. 6

Trail error

6:11 p.m. — 700 block of Airport Road, Ormond Beach

Information. Police responded to a local park after a man in a Jeep got stuck while attempting to drive down a mountain bike trail.

According to an incident report, the 43-year-old Ormond Beach man told police that he had just finished building the Jeep and thought the trail was open for utility vehicles. He didn't realize it was a mountain bike trail. The reporting officer noted that the man's Jeep was stuck in the mid with a tree lodged in his front right bumper.

The man attempted to remove his vehicle but broke the Jeep's winch in the process, which sunk the vehicle in the mud. 

Eventually, he was able to get the winch working, the report states, and the man removed the Jeep off the trail in a safe manner. 

 

Latest News

×

Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning local news.