June 4, 2008
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

SHERIFF’S OFFICE CAPTURES SUSPECT IN DEBARY BANK ROBBERY 

Less than a week after a dapper criminal in a three-piece suit and fedora hat robbed a DeBary bank, quick-acting Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators closed in on the suspect early Wednesday morning. Armed with an arrest warrant, investigators swooped in on 40-year-old Darryl Oates shortly after 5 a.m. and took him into custody. Oates was arrested at his home on Red Coach Avenue in Deltona, less than three miles from the DeBary branch of Riverside National Bank that was held up on Thursday. Following Oates’ arrest, investigators searched his home and hauled off evidence that will be examined to determine whether it’s connected to the robbery. 

The bank was held up at around 3:11 p.m. on Thursday by a lone gunman armed with a handgun. One of the first tips came from witnesses who reported seeing the suspect flee the robbery in a white van. The big break came when investigators were led to Oates by an anonymous tipster who contacted Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida after a photo of the suspect captured by the bank’s surveillance system was publicized by local media outlets. Through investigative legwork conducted by Sheriff’s Sergeant Virgil Ford and investigator Charles Lee, deputies learned that Oates lives in Deltona with a woman who owns a white van. Despite the disguise, a witness from the bank was able to pick out Oates from a photo lineup and the defendant’s ex-girlfriend also looked at the bank photo and said it was Oates. One of the final pieces of the case came together on Tuesday, after the Sheriff’s Office’s Technical Services staff confirmed that a palm printed lifted from the bank by crime scene technicians matched Oates’ print on file from previous arrests. 

Investigators presented the information late Tuesday to Circuit Court Judge Randell Rowe, who issued an arrest warrant charging Oates with robbery with a firearm. After Oates declined to give a statement to investigators, he was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach. Oates was booked into the jail at 10:20 a.m. and is being held without bond.