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Volusia sheriff describes Orange County stolen gun case as 'cowboy police work'

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County deputies did not break the law when they watched a group of teens break into a gun store in another county and didn't stop them, but that doesn't make the Volusia County sheriff any less upset.

On Saturday, Orange County deputies tracked suspects into Volusia County, watched them steal 18 guns from a DeBary store and then waited until they got back into Orange County to make an arrest.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said he could file a complaint with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to look into how things went down, but he won't.

He believes it won't happen again. Orange County deputies legally didn't do anything wrong, but Chitwood said allowing the teens to break into the gun shop while they sat and watched was not the right thing to do.

“This is cowboy police work and somebody can die. A deputy can die, a police officer can die, a civilian can die," Chitwood said.

Deputies said the teenagers took 18 assault weapons.

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“I have a huge issue with that. I was raised differently. You know, where I came from, you did not allow a crime to occur and you sat back there,” said Chitwood. “Your job and duty was to intervene. I don't care what the policy or the law said, you have a moral and ethical obligation to intervene."

The Orange County Sheriff's Office said the deputies’ tactics were justified; a group of serial burglary suspects are in custody and all but one of the guns has been recovered.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said legally, law enforcement officers don't have an obligation to prevent a crime from occurring.

“There's no Florida statute duty as to when an officer has to effect an arrest," he said.

Chitwood said Orange County won't be able to come back to his county without some coordination first.

“I can't stop someone at the line, but if they are going to come in and do this cowboy stuff, they are not going to get any help from us. We are just going to jump right in the middle,” he said.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings declined Channel 9’s request for an interview.

He called the operation a success. Chitwood said while he respects Demings’ position, he believes that final gun that is not accounted for needs to turn up first.

Jeff Levkulich

Jeff Levkulich, WFTV.com

Jeff Levkulich joined the Eyewitness News team as a reporter in June 2015.