May 25, 2005
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

ALERT BANK TELLER FOILS HOME INVADERS 

An alert bank teller helped foil a pair of home invaders who accosted an 80-year-old woman Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to force her to withdraw money from her account. Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators are searching for two suspects who barged into a home on Fairwinds Circle in Ormond-by-the-Sea and roughed up the victim at gunpoint. The suspects have been identified as 22-year-old Billy Stanton and 20-year-old Timothy Perry. 

The Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the victim’s home at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The victim told deputies that she was doing laundry Tuesday afternoon when two men kicked open the front door of her home and shoved her into the master bedroom. While in the bedroom, the victim was ordered to the ground while one of the suspects pointed a gun at her that he had stolen from a dresser inside the home. The suspects took a bracelet off of the victim’s wrist and then ordered her to write out two personal checks, made out to cash. 

After searching the home for valuables, the suspects headed to the victim’s bank to cash the checks, but a teller became suspicious and called the victim seeking authorization to release the funds. The victim, who’s legally blind, told bank officials she was afraid the men would return to kill her if they didn’t get the money. The bank called the Sheriff’s Office, but the suspects fled empty-handed before deputies arrived. 

Sheriff’s investigators don’t believe the victim was chosen at random, although they are still working to sort out all of the circumstances surrounding Tuesday’s incident. Stanton is 6’ tall and weighs about 140 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a plaid shirt, baggy jeans, white tennis shoes and a white baseball hat. Perry is 5’9” and weighs about 140 pounds. He has brown hair, hazel eyes and was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, dark-colored shorts and white tennis shoes. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of either suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, toll-free, at (888) 277-TIPS. Callers to Crime Stoppers will remain anonymous and can qualify for a reward of up to $1,000.