Deltona, FL - Volusia County Sheriff's Office (VCSO) is looking for the person they say shot and killed an Army veteran in Deltona who was only trying to help the suspect, who was having car trouble, and a reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.
The victim, 60-year-old Carlos Cruz of Deltona, was found dead beside a vehicle that was stuck in a ditch at the intersection of Malaga Ave. and Puritan St. in Deltona just before 8 PM on Saturday. Deputies responded to the scene and found Cruz with a gunshot wound and no pulse.
According to VCSO, Cruz heard the suspect having car trouble, and Cruz drove his truck over to try to help pull the car from a ditch. The suspect shot Cruz and stole his truck. It was later discovered that the suspect's car was stolen.
Cruz is the brother-in-law of a VCSO employee who says the Army veteran was always there to help those in need. “If you needed something and he had it, he would give it to you,” Edgar Burgos, Cruz's brother-in-law, says. “Knowing him, I bet he went over there to see if they needed help.”
If you have any information on the case, you are urged to call 386-248-1777 to reach the VCSO Communications Center and speak to a dispatcher. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 888-277-TIPS, on the web at
westopcrime.com, or via the app available for download at the website. VCSO is now offering a $10,000 reward for anyone with information leading to an arrest and conviction.
“We owe it to Mr. Cruz and his family to find the ruthless, cold-blooded killer or killers who took his life,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Monday. “It takes a special kind of evil to gun down a stranger who is only trying to help you, and anyone who knows something and stays silent is complicit in this heinous act.”
(Photo of Cruz courtesy VCSO)
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