Naked man wielding machete runs rampant at DeLand gas station (Video)

After approaching several passing vehicles, a naked man who threw a machete at a surveyor and tried to rob him of his clothes  and wallet was arrested at a gas station in DeLand, Florida, on Monday, August 8.  Deputies were called to an area across from the Volusia County Fairgrounds shortly before 10 a.m. on Monday after the surveyor reported a naked man approached him while carrying a large machete-style knife.

The victim said the suspect was picking palmetto berries in the woods, but eventually came running out of the brush brandishing the machete and demanding his clothes, wallet and phone.  As the victim began to comply with the demands, he said the suspect hurled the machete at him along with a handful of palmetto berries. The handle of the machete bounced off the victim’s chest, and fortunately he wasn’t injured.

The naked assailant ran off into the brush and got into a white Dodge Challenger. Meanwhile, a responding deputy recognized that the circumstances and suspect description in this case were similar to an August 2021 call involving Brandon Wright running around naked in the same area.  Minutes later, Wright’s vehicle passed a license plate reader in the DeLand area, and soon after that it was reported that a naked man was outside a gas station at 899 S. Spring Garden Avenue in DeLand.

Air One spotted Wright from overhead and provided updates on his location until DeLand police officers arrived on scene. Wright laid down in the parking lot for the officers and was taken into custody without incident.

The 35-year-old Wright was charged with attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he was in custody without bond as of this writing. His prior convictions include kidnapping/false imprisonment (2009), possession of cocaine (2013 and 2018), possession of a firearm/ammunition by a convicted felon and battery on a law enforcement officer (2018) and resisting an officer without violence (2021).

See the Air One video below.

(Source: Volusia Sheriff’s Office)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter