A pair of accused package thieves were arrested over the weekend after fleeing a Volusia County deputy who caught them with a stolen box of dog treats taken off an 87-year-old Daytona Beach woman's porch, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.
Daytona Beach police charged 25-year-old Jennifer Steinman with burglary in connection with the package theft, officials said.
When Volusia County deputies caught up with her, they said she was also was in possession of a few different drugs.
Steinman's driver and boyfriend, 32-year-old Bryan Gibbons of Pennsylvania, was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement—as well as possession of ammo by a convicted felon when a deputy discovered a loaded pistol in the center console of the car, deputies said.
Deputy Omar Bello was patrolling the 800 block of Peninsula Drive Saturday around 4:30 p.m. when he saw a black Nissan SUV driving erratically with the two people in the car fighting, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Bello tried to stop the car, but the driver kept going before pulling over.
Steinman then got out of the car with an Amazon.com package and said she’d picked it up from a friend’s house, deputies said.
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The real owner of the package told deputies she’d never met Steinman. The package contained $6 worth of dog treats, according to the Sheriff's Office.
“My elderly mother said that she feels safer knowing that your deputies are so alert and trained not just to look for the target of a search, but also to recognize and act on suspicious behavior,” the victim’s daughter wrote in a message to the Sheriff’s Office after the arrest. “Please know that we are so thankful and blessed to have brave and observant officers like Deputy Bello protecting our homes and streets.”
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