Last Updated: Wednesday, 10:33 a.m.
GameStop, the store along the Target shopping center adjacent to Kay Jewelers on one side and Bath & Body Works on the other, was the target of a robbery shortly after 11 Tuesday morning. The Sheriff’s Office issued an alert urging residents to avoid the area.
The incident drew a heavy law enforcement response to the area. The assailant, a white male, did not get far: he was apprehended and placed under arrest in a matter of minutes after the robbery. He was identified Wednesday as a 15-year-old student enrolled in the Rise Up Program, an alternative program at the Flagler County Youth Center on the Flagler Palm Coast High School campus.
The incident was reported from within the store–the world’s largest video game and electronics retailer with nearly 5,000 stores worldwide and $5 billion in revenue last year–when the man, believed to have attended a youth recovery program in the past, showed his gun, or what appeared to be a gun, to someone in the store and said he wanted the money in the register. A store employee complied, handing over $353. The man took the money and left, heading toward Flagler Palm Coast High School, according to a sheriff’s spokesperson. Authorities informed the school.
The assailant then discarded the gun, which turned out to be a replica. He was apprehended soon after that as he was walking back into FPC’s campus, where the school resource officer noticed him speaking to the guard at the school’s entrance. The 15 year old’s description matched the one the officer had heard in a be-on-the-lookout alert.
A bodycam video shows sheriff’s deputies converging on the SRD and the assailant as the SRD was handcuffing the boy, who was sprawled on the ground at the school’s entrance.
“I ditched the gun,” the boy is heard telling the deputy.
“Where did you put it?” the deputy asked him. The boy mentioned “water,” what proved to be the area of the bridge near Olive Garden. “It’s not real,” he told the deputies. The boy identified himself to the deputies and was read his rights.
The stolen money was recovered. Whether a gun is a fake or an actual firearm, under Florida law, a robbery is prosecuted as an armed robbery either way, since the victims of the robbery are not aware of the nature of weapon.
The district’s chief spokesman had not been made aware of the police situation nearby when contacted within an hour of the incident. No alerts were issued at the school. But the incident was resolved within minutes of the robbery. The school’s principal later in the afternoon recorded a robocall informing parents of the incident, but not of the location of the arrest, and directed all inquiries to the Sheriff’s Office.
A sheriff’s release on Wednesday indicates the 15 year old was charged in 2019 by the Bunnell Police Department for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon Without Intent to Kill and conspiracy to commit murder. He participated in a Residential Treatment Program with the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and was put on probation.
“This kid attempted an armed robbery in the middle of the day and thankfully no one was hurt,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This kid is on his way to being a lifelong serious criminal. I hope the juvenile justice system can get him turned around before it’s too late and he spends his life in prison or he seriously hurts someone.”
At least one store nearby to the GameShop closed until informed it was safe to reopen. By 12:35 p.m., the crime scene near where the gun was recovered was dismantled.
trailer bob says
Would have been funny if the money they handed him was also fake…
Land of no turn signals says says
Should sound a loud message,The Staly army is on duty.Nice work, punk should get a job.
Jimbo99 says
Well, that should be his last caper.
Jay Gardner says
Nice work by our sheriff’s department. That did not take long.
Jay
Jim says
Great job FCSO. Just an FYI Payless went bankrupt like a year and a half ago..
Ryan says
Great job FCSO. Now you need to publicly identify the perp.
Disgusted in Flagler County says
FPC should have immediately been put on lockdown!!! Flagler County is always taking things too lightly when it comes to protecting our kids at that high school and all Flagler County schools. If that robber would have made it onto the campus which is only a few feet from where he was caught, there could have been a way bigger situation than what there was. Why take that chance with other peoples kids????? The school should have immediately been put on lockdown.
RAW says
I agree! Great job F.C.S.O. again. I hope this idiot enjoys his stay at the Green Roof Inn!
Mark says
Maybe there is a program where we can pay these criminals to help prevent these types of occurrences.
can'tfoolme says
Disrupt the whole school for a situation that was already resolved? Anyway, he had also already discarded the fake gun so what harm could he have done at that point? Don’t let him garner more publicity than he deserves and disrupt serious students’ studies. And yes, in the case of repeat juvenile offenders, their names should be revealed.
RAW says
Do you want to bring in the S. W. A. T., bomb squad, National Guard, counselors and more?
Talk about a kneejerk reaction for a situation that was handled before most people ever knew about it. Think my friend.
Chris says
More and more people coming to Palm Coast unfortunately not all of them are nice .We are going to have a lot of crime with all the building and development going on. This town will look just Daytona Jacksonville orlando won’t be any difference thanks to all the greedy people at Palm Coast council encouraging development on every scale on every piece of land available.
The dude says
Hmmmm… as a proud graduate of an “alternative” high school in GA, the worst we ever did on our lunch break was get stoned and maybe drink a few beers.
I turned out ok… I guess.
MikeM says
And yet some people who comment here think we have enough cops. I think we need a few more.
palmcoaster says
These students are coming up in the news often now? What are their parents doing about it or they are gun totter bullies as well?: http://www.newsdaytonabeach.com/stories/palm-coast-teen-charged-with-unlawful-possession-of-a-firearm,10408
Peaches McGee says
No reason to hide his name.
The FCSO has released all his information, including other media outlets.
A.j says
No one was hurt thank God. If continue to get more chances he will become a atone criminal. If he were Black he would probably be dead. Our young people regardless of their race need help. Too much stress little guidance sometimes equal sad conclusions.
Mark says
Why would we need more when they caught him quicker than ever?
MikeM says
Why would you want to pay people not to commit crimes?Why would you reward bad behavior ?
Enlightener says
Clearly the young man is strung out. Still salvagable. Let’s see what the system can do folks before you arbitrarily toss the kid under your proverbial buses. Yeah, this is a class A FUBAR. He’s got the attention now he sought. But goddammit people, some of you are some nasty pathetic self absorbed self righteous bastards.
Think about it for a second… think about it for just one second… What was your world like when 15? Were there drugs literally all around you? Drugs that didn’t even exist when you were 15? Guns? Fake or otherwise. Social media pressure? Intense, intense unimaginable social pressures? What were your mommy and daddy like? Was mommy tricking? Daddy pimping? You. Don’t. Know. All of these things have been created by ADULTS just like you and me.
Let’s see what the system can do. At worst he’ll be out of juvi in a couple of years. And then what? Sit and wait for him to do something horrid in our neighborhood? No. No! Let’s see what the system can do, and perhaps what are YOU doing for the system?
By the way, for all you suckups hootin’ and hollerin’ about how great the sheriff is… They literally had nothing to do with catching “the perp”. Literally nothing. $1.4m for 10 new cops in the FCSO would not have made an iota of difference. They’re school district employees. Wanna make a $1.4m investment in the community? How about some mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention programs in our schools. Huh? What’s that? Prevention? No way! Yay to those in blue!!!
deb says
Just think in most cases, it all starts at home.
Sgt. Steel says
What’s wrong you ask with are young people ? DISIPLINE , STRUCTURE , MORALS
Bring back the DRAFT
ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE , MARINES , SPACE FORCE
erobot says
May sound trivial, but a dress code helps kids understand self respect and their place in society. I hope he straightens out and becomes a credit to our country. In another way you can’t blame a kid when he sees that in other places, people are walking out of stores with arm loads of stuff.
Concerned says
What’s even more concerning, is why are they putting “alternative education” students (who clearly cannot behave in a normal education setting) back on a school campus?