Officer Ben Wise was nominated and subsequently awarded Officer of the Quarter following exceptional police work that led to the arrest of an habitual career burglar and the arrest of a sophisticated group of check thieves.

In November and December 2017, there was a rash of car burglaries (28) in the northeast quadrant of the city in which numerous articles of jewelry, electronics and identifications including FBI credentials. Working with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, DeLand Police detectives interviewed numerous people with items stolen but could not find the perpetrator. 

A break came when Officer Wise was proactively patrolling his assigned zone and came across Brian K. Ashley, who has a significant criminal history of property related crimes. Wise at the time could not arrest Ashley for probable cause. He forwarded his information to DeLand PD detectives, who eventually obtained a confession from Ashley and were able to return numerous items of stolen property back to the victims.

At the beginning of the year, Wise helped bust suspects who had been stealing rent checks from area apartment complexes, but authorities were having a difficult time identifying the ones responsible for it.

On February 4, Officer Wise and others were dispatched to the Spring Garden Apartment complex for burglary/theft in progress from an after hour drop slot. The suspects were apprehended and were connected to at least two other similar thefts including one in Seminole County.

These two cases exemplify Officer Wise's continually effective police work and we are proud to have Officer Wise represent the DeLand PD as Officer of the Quarter!

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