EDGEWATER, Fla. -- Someone chucking
methamphetamine lab materials out of a window in plain view of Volusia County
Sheriff’s deputies was a clear sign that something wasn’t quite
right Thursday afternoon when the deputies had knocked on the front door. The
ironic thing is that deputies weren’t there to do a drug bust at the home
near Edgewater; they were looking for a suspect wanted in a home invasion
robbery from earlier in the day. However, that suspect was nabbed later in the
evening when a restaurant owner complained about a man high on drugs who was
causing a disturbance. By the time deputies finally wrapped up all of the
ancillary investigations that popped up throughout the day they had taken eight
people to jail.
The incident that set off
the whole chain of events was a home invasion robbery at 5343 Beaconlight Road near Edgwater.
Donnie Cochran, 23, had knocked on the door at about 2:30 p.m. asking for a
resident who wasn’t home at the time. The two people who were there
locked Cochran out. But he then broke through the door anyway and demanded to
know “Where is our stuff?” Cochran rummaged through the
victims’ belongings and grabbed a bottle full of more than 200
prescription pills and some cash. No weapon was ever seen and no one was hurt
even though Cochran suggested to one victim that he had a gun. Cochran then
fled.
A few hours later
deputies responded to 1012 S.
Flagler Avenue based on a tip they had received
that Cochran was there. Deputies staged around the house and one knocked on the
front door at about 5 p.m. Through a window deputies saw Alexis Moore, 28, exit
a bedroom and ask who was at the door. When she heard deputies say
“Sheriff’s Office,” she said “one minute” and
went back into the room. A moment later deputies saw bottles being flung out of
the bedroom window, and they recognized modifications to the bottles as being
signs of a meth lab.
Deputies then entered the
house and ordered everyone out of the bedroom, but only Moore obeyed, stirring up a cloud of chemical
smoke as she opened and closed the door. Someone still inside locked the door,
but then unlocked it upon deputies’ orders. Inside were Brett Dolivo, 25;
Chad Fennell, 22; Chelsey Pell, 23; and Catherine Sullivan, 42. A fan was churning
near an open window in an effort to ventilate the smoke cloud. Everyone was
ordered out and after subsequent interviews all five were arrested. Dolivo, who
lived in the house with Moore,
claimed responsibility for the meth lab. The other three were visitors.
As deputies were sorting
out events there, a car belonging to 18-year-old Katie Gravitz drove by.
Deputies recognized her as Cochran’s girlfriend and quickly conducted a
traffic stop. Both Gravitz and one of the other passengers, 35-year-old Keith Simmons,
were connected to methamphetamine found in the car and subsequently arrested.
Finally, at about 10 p.m.
deputies were notified that a man who appeared to be high on drugs was causing
a disturbance in the Chaps Steakhouse parking lot, 4170 S. Ridgewood Avenue. When a deputy
arrived, he recognized Cochran. As he approached Cochran, the suspect dropped a
machete and a pill bottle and dashed into the nearby woods. The pill bottle was
later determined to have belonged to a victim in the earlier home invasion.
Cochran stayed hidden in the woods until a Sheriff’s K-9 unit began
searching for him, at which time he surrendered.
All eight defendants were
booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach. Their charges are as follows:
- Donnie Cochran, 23, Oak Hill. Charged with unarmed home invasion robbery and resisting arrest without violence. He also had two arrest warrants, one for failure to appear and the other for battery.
- Brett Dolivo, 25, Edgewater. Charged with manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals and possession of methamphetamine.
- Chad Fennell, 22, Oak Hill. Charged with manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals, possession of methamphetamine and violation of probation.
- Chelsey Pell, 23, Edgewater. Charged with manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals and possession of methamphetamine.
- Catherine Sullivan, 42, Edgewater. Charged with manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals and possession of methamphetamine.
- Alexis Moore, 28, Edgewater. Charged with manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals and possession of methamphetamine.
- Katie Gravitz, 18, Oak Hill. Charged with possession of methamphetamine.
- Keith Simmons, 35, Oak Hill. Charged with possession of methamphetamine.
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