“10 individuals facing charges for violent attack influenced by group behavior in De Leon Springs”

DE LEON SPRINGS, Fla. – Ten individuals are facing charges following what the Volusia County Sheriff describes as a brutal assault and battery incident over the weekend.

The altercation happened at a gathering in the woods in De Leon Springs, near Apalachicola Circle and Spring Garden Avenue. The incident left four people hospitalized with significant injuries, and the entire event was recorded.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office reported that four people were arrested Wednesday morning, with expectations that the remaining involved will turn themselves in by the end of the day.

The sheriff said the party initially began at a similar property in Deltona.

“While at the bonfire, there’s a bunch of people in the back of a pickup truck and they start jumping up and down in the pickup truck and the owner of the truck thinks it’ll be funny – he puts the truck in gear, pulls out, and the people fall out of the back of the truck,” explained Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

The bonfire party then moved to De Leon Springs, where video footage captured the fight that erupted over the truck incident.

The sheriff stated that those involved ranged from teenagers to young adults. The altercation included punching, pushing, using brass knuckles, and stomping the victims in the head.

“These victims were beat down in what I would describe as a mob mentality,” said Chitwood. “It was like a wolf pack just beating down somebody for pulling a practical joke that they didn’t like.”

In addition to the charges related to the violence, Sheriff Chitwood said that one suspect allegedly took a victim’s wallet and used the credit cards for breakfast the following day.

“That’s how many times we have been through the video to identify who was involved that they caught that and then they were able to ascertain through other interviews that credit cards were used,” he added.

One of the suspects even posted the video on social media.

“Why use your phone to do the right thing and call 911? Or why not get in there on that beatdown? When you see all these people stomping somebody into the ground, why doesn’t some common sense kick in and say ‘oh my god somebody could end up dead here, so what do I do? I’ll film it,‘” questioned the sheriff.

The sheriff’s office is also investigating other locations in the county, including the one in Deltona, to track down landowners and potentially designate these areas as trespass sites to prevent future incidents.