Nicholas Delbrugge, 20, and his sister Ashley, both former residents of Flagler County and the son and daughter of former Flagler School Superintendent Bill Delbrugge, were arrested this evening in Deltona and charged with snatching a girl scout’s cookie money from her hands four days earlier.
Sunday’s incident took place in mid-afternoon when a 12-year-old girl selling cookies outside of a Walmart entrance on Howland Boulevard was approached by a white man who snatched her cash box she had been holding on to–because she’d suspected something was amiss with the man–and ran toward the parking lot, according to a sheriff’s report, before jumping into a waiting car, a newer-model gray Hyundai Santa Fe, with North Carolina tags. A 43-year-old woman witnessed the incident and described it in similar terms.
The box contained about $200.
Surveillance footage showed the suspect approaching the store with a white female wearing a pink jacket and walking with a small child. The group walked back to their vehicle for several minutes, after which the male suspect returned to steal the money.
Thursday evening, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office announced that it had arrested Nicholas Delbrugge and Winters after they’d returned to Deltona from North Carolina.
A sheriff’s release indicates that investigators had been onto the pair since Tuesday, when a New Smyrna Beach police officer who saw surveillance images of the suspects told Volusia County Sheriff’s Investigator T.J. Pullin that the male suspect appeared to be Delbrugge, someone he’d arrested in the past. Delbrugge was arrested last February on a battery charge and a possession of drug paraphernalia charge, and a year before on a marijuana possession charge. He is an adopted son of Bill Delbrugge, a much-celebrated superintendent of Flagler schools from 2005 to 2010 until he took a job directing an international school in Cairo. He has since moved up in the school’s parent organization, moving to the United Arab Emirates. He has kept close contacts with friends and colleagues in the county through his Facebook page, which, however, had been taken down this week.
The investigator started looking into Nicholas Delbrugge, locating his Facebook profile and noticing photos of the suspect sitting in the passenger seat of a newer-model vehicle. Knowing the suspects were seen leaving in a newer-model Hyundai Santa Fe, Pullin compared the Santa Fe’s standard interior to the interior in the photos and noticed strong similarities.
Next came an anonymous phone call from a tipster identifying both Delbrugge and Winters as the suspects in the surveillance photos in a release the sheriff’s office issued Monday. Pullin went to the address where both suspects were said to be living, and met with their grandfather, who looked at the surveillance photos and confirmed the images were of Delbrugge and Winters. The pair had already left for North Carolina that morning.
Meanwhile, the 12-year-old victim gave a more detailed account of the incident. She said the male and female had approached her Girl Scout table Sunday, and the female kept asking questions about the cookies. The male kept staring at the cash box. Both suspects went inside the Walmart, but came back out about a half-hour later. Because of his suspicious actions earlier, the victim held onto the metal cash box – but the suspect grabbed it and took off into the parking lot. The leader of the Girl Scout troop estimated the box contained about $200 cash.
On Wednesday, the victim picked Delbrugge out of a photo lineup.
Also Wednesday, Winters’ husband contacted the Sheriff’s Office after researching the case online. He confirmed that the woman suspect in the surveillance image was his wife, the juvenile with her was their daughter, and the Hyundai Santa Fe was their vehicle.
The Sheriff’s Office obtained warrants for the suspects Wednesday afternoon. The suspects turned themselves in at the Volusia County Branch Jail and were arrested without incident around 5:40 p.m. Delbrugge was charged with robbery by sudden snatching and petit theft with a bond of $150,000. Winters was charged with being a principal to robbery by sudden snatching and petit theft with a bond of $50,000.
Linda Sparda says
What is this world coming to?
Jon Hardison says
Wait… What?
Mark says
$150,000 bond, wow. I have seen violent people get less bond than that.
wow-really says
How ruthless.
Linda Sparda says
Its pretty pathetic taking a girl scouts money.
Anonymous says
Those had everything handed to them from their and turn around and do this
Sad story for this family
Linda Sparda says
Thats awful!
Geezer says
A modern-day “Cookie Monster” has been hatched in Palm Coast.
Palm Coast reminds me of Roswell, NM with a touch of Detroit, and
a smattering of NYC housing project mentality — so many strange
happenings, odd and sometimes violent crimes and weirdo sightings.
What an odd, and strange little sun-soaked city, where little girls are
robbed of cookie money by awkward, bloodshot-eyed, spoiled pot heads
for munchies relief.
There is simply no category for Palm Coast.
Somebody shot a puppy the other day in the “W” section. A rowdy group
of urban youngsters rioted when they were “dissed” by the emergence
of unwelcome cheesy garlic knots. Prior to that: you had an armed
pizza man who leveled a pistol at an unhappy pizza-pie customer.
City slickers take notice: Palm Coast really does have everything.
The truth is out there.
happeningnow says
You can chose your friends and not your family. Whenever this happens with kids, parents are mostly judged as being bad parents. Not so all the time.
confidential says
No different than when then sheriff Fleming’s adult son was caught with and on drugs in Flagler County while dad at the helm.
YankeeExPat says
Possibly Franklin Graham influenced the tykes?
kate says
This is a very sad commentary on the issues with mental health and the disease of addiction. Instead of talking about how horrible this young man and his sister are (what they did was horrible), we need to look at why someone would resort to this kind of behavior for a nominal amount of money. The addict will do virtually anything to get his next fix…not by choice but for survival as they know it. I hope they both get help through this process….
Kit says
Geezer, it didn’t happen in Palm Coast. It happened in Deltona, which is a lot worse than Palm Coast. They don’t even live in Flagler county. All of which was stated in the article.
Anonymous says
@ Confidential,
Umm yeah much different. Flemings son had an addiction to pain meds brought on by being prescribed those meds and Fleming wasn’t afraid to talk about it. Hopefully you never have to know what that’s like. Low blow but I expect it from you.
Kim says
I’m sorry for the 12 year old. What a scary thing to go through. Will change her view of the world.
Bc. says
This kid needs to be locked if he can rob young girls in a public place in the daytime. Just think what is coming next. He needs to go away for 18-24 months and so does his sidekick.
JR says
You forgot the stupid red light cameras. We had how many at one time 47. Now there are three. Around the shopping district. People now go elsewhere. Smooth move morons.
Bob says
DOES NOT SURPRISE ME. THE FISH STINKS FROM THE HEAD DOWN.
ryan says
I get so sick of people blaming parents and mental illness on everything that someone does. Look, everyone needs to have this hammered into their heads. sometimes, some people are born bad natured or are born extremely selfish, but they learn that this is how they feel and are wired that way. Some people are raised by good parents but turn bad somewhere down the line. these kids are an example.
Geezer says
Kit:
Thanks for letting me know. I’m getting old and my neurons
are tired, withthe occasional misfiring synapse. But it’s better
than suffering from dangling participles.
Eeew.
Remember: “to err is Geezer.”
Ashlee says
Child Protective Services should look into the girl’s case – the daughter being exposed to her mom committing a crime (news reports state the woman’s daughter was sitting in the escape car). Not exactly a good environment to raise a kid in.