Robbery suspect arrested after hitting two Deltona gas stations

Date Added: July 15, 2025 3:09 pm

A 20-year-old man was arrested overnight after robbing two gas stations in Deltona, threatening and forcibly holding the clerk in the second incident by claiming he had a gun. 

Deputies first responded to the Circle K at 2196 Howland Boulevard around 1:45 a.m. after the clerk there reported the suspect handed him a note demanding money and threatened to shoot him if he did not comply. The clerk did not comply, and the suspect left.  

Minutes later, a deputy pulled into the Circle K at 2720 Elkam Boulevard, which is across the street, and saw the clerk try to run out of the store. As the victim tried to run out, the suspect grabbed the clerk by the neck and dragged him back inside the store. 

The clerk was able to break loose and ran out of the back of the store. 

Deputies immediately began giving commands to the suspect, later identified as Dylan Hope, who remained inside the store and could be seen through the front glass door. Hope complied, exited the store and was secured in handcuffs without incident. 

Hope told detectives the reason he held the clerk was because he was trying to think of a better escape plan.  Hope was charged with two counts of armed robbery, written threats to kill, armed kidnapping, false imprisonment and petit theft. 

He is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bond.