- April 19, 2024
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One of the victims was struck in the head with a liquor bottle, in the parking lot of Maria Bonita, on Granada Boulevard.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
An Ormond Beach resident and his friend were the victims of an attempted armed robbery early Wednesday morning in the parking lot of Maria Bonita, on Granada Boulevard.
John Johns told police he and Dominque Skeldon were sitting in her vehicle in the restaurant parking lot when four males approached from the nearby trailer park, threw beer in his face, repeatedly hit him on the head with a clear liquor bottle and attempted to take the vehicle’s CD player, along with Skeldon’s purse.
Police later arrested Thomas Richardson, Joshua Lucas, Nicholas Howell and Anthony Elci after being separately identified by Johns and Skeldon.
As Johns was being hit with the liquor bottle, Skeldon exited the vehicle in an attempt to stop the assault. She told police Lucas made a fist at her and told her to back up.
Johns then told Skeldon to get into the car, and she started to drive away when one of the defendants opened the passenger side door. As Johns pulled the door shut, the inside door panel was ripped off.
Johns and Skeldon told police the defendants threw beer bottles at the car as it was driving away. Once they were clear of the parking lot, Johns and Skeldon called the police.
After arriving on scene and getting suspect descriptions from Johns and Skeldon, Police went to Granada Mobile Home Park, where they were directed to a trailer by two residents who said people there matched the descriptions.
Elci exited the trailer as police arrived, but the other three defendants resisted doing so for roughly 45 minutes, according to the report.
Once police had all four secured, Johns and Skeldon were separately brought by police to the Maria Bonita parking lot to identify them. All four were positively identified by both Johns and Skeldon.
When the responding officer arrived at the restaurant's parking lot, he said he found the inside door panel, the vehicle’s cigarette lighter and a half-filled beer bottle located between the trailer park and where he found the door panel.
The officer said he could tell the beer was still cold based on condensation on the bottle.
