DAYTONA BEACH, FL - September 8, 2020 - According to an online news report from News-Journalonline.com, a 19-year-old woman from Palm Coast, Florida, was arrested by Daytona Police officers for committing an armed robbery of an illegal gambling place. The 19-year-old Palm Coast woman was arrested on Friday, which started the Labor Day Weekend. The Palm Coast teenager has been charged with principal to armed robbery, according to her arrest report and the news article. The suspect is currently being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail on Monday without bail.
According to the news report and a statement from the Daytona Beach Police Department, on August 29, 2020, the suspect, along with five other men, stormed an illegal gambling business at approximately 3 in the morning. The illegal gambling establishment was operating at 833 Mason Avenue in Daytona Beach, Florida. The report states that the group robbed the gambling house at gunpoint.
The team originally entered the establishment to gamble. It has been reported that the team of robbers were frequent visitors. However, the operators of the business noted that the group was behaving unusually and caused concern. One of the operators decided to retrieve his firearm from his motor vehicle due to the suspicious behaviors of the group.
As the operator attempted to enter into the establishment, one of the robbers acting as a lookout and standing outside of the illegal casino pointed a pistol at the operator's head as another robber removed the operator's pistol from the operator's possession. During this robbery, a gun was discharged, but no one was injured or killed.
The robbers then made their way into the illegal casino, and they commanded the occupants to drop to the ground. The group robbed the customers, employees, and a security guard by pointed guns at the victims and demanding their possessions. The team robbed the victims of anything of value, including cash, mobile phone, and jewelry.
According to police investigators, one of the other illegal casino operators did not want to work with investigators by pressing charges against the assailants. As the suspect and the other robbers fled the scene, one of the victims followed the robbers to an apartment located in the Holly Hill Apartments. Law enforcement followed this lead and discovered the robber's getaway car. The police obtained a search warrant for the car, and they conducted a search of the motor vehicle. A background check on the car found that the suspect had been involved in a traffic stop in the same motor vehicle back in June.
Law enforcement found several pieces of evidence connecting the female suspect to the motor vehicle. Law enforcement found and interviewed the 19-year-old female robbery suspect. The suspect admitted to law enforcement that she was one of the robbers who robbed the illegal casino robbery. The woman also admitted that she was the person pictured in a news clipping photo of an armed robbery found inside the suspected getaway vehicle and that she had been arrested and charged in that separate armed robbery case in Flagler County, Florida.