A K-9 officer and sheriff’s deputy in Volusia County successfully tracked down and apprehended a violent suspect of a carjacking that left one dead.
Recently, Nassan Bacon, 22, was seen in a New Smyrna Beach gun shop purchasing a 60-round clip for an AK-47.
On June 30, detectives and Volusia County agents spotted Bacon in New Smyrna Beach in a vehicle with two other individuals on Dimmick Street. Law enforcement formed a perimeter and moved in to take the suspect into custody. Unable to break out of the perimeter, Bacon fled on foot and hid in a yard, behind a house on Palm Street.
Deputy Whitson, along with his new K-9 unit Red, pursued the suspect and found Bacon hiding behind a washer, dryer, and other scrap metal in the yard.
With Red’s assistance, the officers took Bacon into custody. He was treated for a bite injury at the scene. The two other individuals were found with concealed firearms and charged accordingly.
Bodycam footage captured Red and Deputy Whitson’s encounter with the suspect. The K-9 unit is seen quickly locating Bacon and helping mitigate the situation as officers close in, guns drawn.
The arrest marks a milestone: Red’s first apprehension of a suspect since replacing Deputy Whitson’s previous K-9 partner, Endo.
On July 1, Bacon along with two other suspects, John Torres, 22, and Isaiah Thomas, 21, were indicted for first-degree murder in the May 22 fatal carjacking at Florida Tech College at 1199 S. Woodland Boulevard, DeLand, where one man was shot and later died from his injuries.
Torres and Thomas were already in the Volusia County Branch Jail for an attempted carjacking at a Walmart on N. Woodland Boulevard in DeLand.
More charges and arrests are still pending in the case. The investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information should contact the DeLand Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 386-626-7400 or leave a tip on the DeLand Police Department’s Crime Watch portal.
