May 8, 2009
Gary Davidson
Public Information Office

SHERIFF’S OFFICE SEEKS HELP IN LOCATING PHARMACY ROBBER

After robbing a pharmacy Thursday morning to get his hands on some prescription drugs, the suspect bolted out of the store and immediately crossed paths with a familiar face -- his landlord. That chance encounter led to the identification of 28-year-old Sven Olson, who’s accused of robbing the Deltona Pharmacy. On Friday, Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators obtained an arrest warrant charging Olson with robbery. Now the search is on to find Olson so he can be taken into custody.

Olson is accused of coming into the pharmacy around 11 a.m. and handing employees a note saying he was armed and demanding OxyCoton and Dilaudid. Witnesses, however, said the man never displayed a weapon. The pharmacist complied with the demands of the robber, who fled the store with three bottles of prescription drugs valued at approximately $1,600. When he got out of the pharmacy, Olson saw his landlord. After the two exchanged a brief greeting, store employees came dashing out of the pharmacy shouting at the landlord to stop Olson. Olson, however, quickly hopped into a 1997 tan Toyota Corolla with a Florida tag, 505KWA, and sped off.

After deputies presented their evidence to Circuit Court Judge Hubert L. Grimes, the judge issued a warrant on Friday charging Olson with robbery. The warrant calls for Olson, who resides in Deltona, to be taken into custody and held on $50,000 bond. Anyone with information about Olson’s whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, toll-free, at (888) 277-TIPS. Resident can also text a tip by texting “TIP231 plus the message” to CRIMES. Tipsters who provide information to Crime Stoppers will remain anonymous and can qualify for a reward of up to $1,000. Anyone who prefers to talk directly to a deputy can call investigator Chris Teague at (386) 860-7030. However, only callers to Crime Stoppers will qualify for a reward.

Update: 3:39 p.m. - 05/10/09

The defendant, 28-year-old Sven Olson, turned himself in to the Sheriff’s Office on Saturday afternoon and was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.