DELTONA, Fla. - The Volusia Sheriff's Office has arrested the man they believe is responsible for a string of car break-ins in Deltona. 23-year-old Nicholas Coffey, a resident of Palm Coast, has been in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail since Sunday.
According to a spokesman with the VSO, Coffey was in a car that had been stolen from Ormond Beach when he began committing the break-ins. Himself and another suspect were reportedly masked and gloved when they appeared on residents' security cameras going into cars.
The tipping point in the investigation was when Coffey was apparently shown on camera at a gas station in the stolen Mercedes car, with the mask and gloves still visible in the video. He was identified by a VSO detective who was aware of a separate warrant Coffey had for his arrest.
Multiple points of evidence were reportedly gathered against Coffey, including a social media post in which he seems to have stated he'd gotten a new Mercedes. His unique tattoos were also used as a distinguishing factor by the VSO detective who identified him.
Using license plate reader surveillance cameras, detectives determined the stolen Mercedes had been in Deltona from 3:00 am to 5:45 am Saturday morning. The streets with break-ins attributed to Coffey are Delaware Road, Illinois Avenue, Loblolly Street, Redbud COurt, and Nickerbean Street.
About 24 hours after the break-ins, deputies arrested Coffey in Daytona Beach Sunday morning. He admitted to his appearance on the gas station surveillance tape, but denied that he'd committed the break-ins. He was then charged with eleven counts of conspiracy to commit burglary, along with one count of conspiracy to commit attempted burglary of a conveyance.
Coffey's bond for these charges would've been $57,500, on top of an additional $15,000 bond for a credit card fraud charge. That steep price of freedom was rendered impassable when he was also charged with violation of probation for firearm possession by a convicted felon. As such, Coffey remains in the Volusia County Branch Jail for the near future.
Prior charges of Coffey's include loitering and resisting an officer nonviolently in 2020, an incident leading to him spending two days in jail.
