South Daytona Police Get Arrest Warrant for Clumsy Would-Be Robber

An arrest warrant has been issued for the man suspected of dropping his handgun into the lap of a woman he intended to rob late Friday, South Daytona police said.

Raymond Lewis Shepard, 25, of Daytona Beach, faces a charge of attempted robbery with a firearm. Police said Shepard was the passenger Friday in a black Chevrolet Impala that stopped on Pineapple Road in front of a vehicle driven by Carol Costello, 69, who had just left a Walmart store on Beville Road.

Shepard jumped from the Impala and tried to smash open the driver's side window with a silver, semiautomatic handgun wrapped in a towel, police said. Shepard failed to break the window, so he jumped on the hood of Costello's car and shattered a hole in the windshield with the butt of the gun, records show.

Shepard then dropped the handgun through the hole and into the Costello's lap. She grabbed the gun and pointed it at Shepard, who ran back toward the awaiting Impala, police said.

As Costello tried to drive away, she hit the front of the Impala and copied the car's license tag before Shepard and the driver sped off.

No one was injured, and no shots were fired.

Shepard dropped his cell phone at the scene and Costello was able to identify Shepard from digital photos saved to the phone, police said.

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