110 W. New York Ave.
DeLand, FL 32720
386-734-4622
PHOTO COURTESY VOLUSIA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Victor Perez — Police said Victor Perez, 54, was charged with robbery and corruption by threat against a public officer Dec. 11. Witnesses told police Perez took two money bags containing more than $6,000 in cash from the DeLand Walmart Supercenter.
PHOTO COURTESY TYLER CAMP
Walmart run — Tyler Camp, 18, chased a man running from the Walmart Supercenter in DeLand. He stopped chasing him when the man said he had a gun. Camp later identified the man he chased as Victor Perez. Pereze was charged with robbery and corruption by threat against a public official.
By Jen Horton
posted Dec 12, 2012 - 3:46:47pm
Tyler Camp, 18, had gone to Walmart with his buddy Dec. 11 to buy some soda and grab some food at the McDonald's inside the store.
What Camp got was a workout.
"There was a lady running after this old man yelling, 'Stop him! Stop him!'" Camp said. "So I took off running after him. He ran up the side of the store, down the back road, and then said he had a gun, so I stopped chasing him."
Camp went back to the store, where police had already been called.
Camp described the chase and the man to officers. Before long, a police officer found a man matching the description at Lowe's.
DeLand police arrested 54-year-old Victor Perez. Police said he had grabbed two moneybags containing more than $6,000 from the store, and took off.
Police transported Camp to Lowe's, where he identified Perez as the man he had chased, according to police.
"I knew it was him. I had a good view; he was right there," Camp said.
Camp's mother, Kimberly Peek, said her son's bravery was a little terrifying. She heard a few hours later about his attempt to stop the robber.
"I'm proud of him. I can't say I'm not, but it scares me that it could have ended in a very traumatic way," Peek said.
According to the police report, the suspect had gone into Walmart to look at jewelry, and became distraught when the jewelry counter was closed. As the man walked through the front of the store, police said, two employees were pushing a cart of teal-colored moneybags containing cash taken from the store registers.
Police said the man snatched two of the bags from the cart, and ran out the grocery-side entrance of the store, right past the McDonald's where Camp was getting food.
Terrica Zimmerman was heading into Walmart right then. Her husband was waiting out in the car.
"I was walking into the Walmart, and when I got about to where the McDonald's is, I noticed a gentleman running with the moneybags," Zimmerman said.
She said she clearly saw the bags of money.
"I immediately called 911," she said.
Zimmerman saw Camp take off after the man, and she heard the threat of a gun.
"I just heard 'he's got a gun, he's got a gun,'" Zimmerman said.
Another woman, Yvette Hernandez, told police Perez was her brother, and that he did not have a gun. Hernandez told police, according to the report, that her brother was drunk and trying to purchase jewelry, and became upset because the jewelry department was closed.
Hernandez told police she saw her brother run out of the business, but she did not see anything in his hands.
A K-9 officer helped the DeLand police find two teal bags, cash still inside, behind JDT Collision Center at 209 Old Daytona Road.
Perez was in custody Dec. 12, charged with robbery and corruption by threat against a public official.
The Volusia County Department of Corrections shows Perez faced different charges exactly one year ago. On Dec. 12, 2011, according to the agency, Perez was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, corruption by threat against a public official, and burglary of an unoccupied conveyance.
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First, the people you see shopping in Walmart are not representative of DeLand as a whole. Like any Walmart anywhere in the world, the shoppers represent the lower economic classes ina society simply because Walmart offers food/goods at the lowest prices. That doesn't mean that EVERY person shopping there is poor or on food stamps. I am fairly wealthy and I shop there on occasion. If it is 10:00 at night and I need batteries or a last minute gift, it is a convenient option. I would rather shop at a local business where the money stays local, but Walmart has its purpose.
It is incorrect and insulting to group people together. I have experienced many friendly, intelligent, helpful employees at the DeLand Walmart. I am very impressed with the job they do, especially considering most are doing it for $8/hour. It must be very difficult to support yourself at that wage. Plus for many, they are working there temporarily until they can finish school, or find a job in their chosen field. I know many people that started their lives working at Walmart, then went on to become successful businesss people.
DeLand is a great community. Judging it by the shoppers in one Walmart is idiotic. That's like judging Paris by one cafe. Also, demographically the shoppers at this Walmart are more from Deleon Springs, Pierson, Astor, Lake County and other communities than they are from DeLand. DeLand has a far higher median family income than these other communities. Most people I know shop either in local shops or out of town and avoid Walmart if possible.
Yes, it is true that people on food stamps and welfare are at Walmart. This is because the aid money goes further there than at say Publix and The Mall. But people abusing public assistance is an American problem and not a DeLand one, and criticizing DeLand for people being on Welfare is rediculous.
Furthermore, there is a fine line between over confidence and just being an egotistical @#$ hole with a superiority complex. Do yourself a favor and try to keep it classy.
However, I won't disagree with you when you say Walmart employees are awful. I've had nothing but bad experiences with them for the past several years in which I've had the displeasure of living in this armpit of a town. It would seem that they have dismally low standards.
As far as Deland changing...Yes, that is true, and I don't like it, but I really don't have much of an attachment for this town so I don't care. Thankfully, I don't own property here.
With that being said, Deland used to have it's bad areas, but said areas eventually encompassed the entire city.
Needless to say I won't be sad when I eventually move out of town.
Odd, isn't it, that you were in Wal-Mart and still accuse Wal-Mart of being full of white trash? I'm sure the trash left with you.
The employees happen to bust their tails in order for you to find the items you wish to purchase and complain about. They bust their tails to ensure that you are treated with both respect and dignity when you plow through their check out lines and complain that someone is beneath because they work there or shop there, completely forgetting that you do the very same. They work there for you. They also are some of the most tolerant people on the planet. I can confidently say that if I were spoken to by a customer the way some Wal-Mart employees get spoken to by people like you, I would certainly be arrested for battery.
White trash... how about that internet bravery.
I can't stand it when criminals (or "suspects") are called "gentleman". We hear that all the time from "police spokesmen" and reporters in a lame effort to be "politically correct".
Someone like this does not, in any possible way, come anywhere even close to fitting the definition of "gentleman". Please, please, don't let yet another word be trashed in this manner.
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