Cops: 'Desperate' man suspected of robbery turns himself in

Kevin P. Connolly

Sentinel Staff Writer

3:11 p.m. EDT, September 29, 2009

A "desperate" man suspected of robbing a bank in Volusia County today turned himself in 18 minutes later by calling 911 on himself, police said.

Tony Max Olea, Jr. called 911 at about 10:48 a.m., identified himself and told the operator he had just robbed a bank and he wanted to turn himself in, Port Orange police said.

Olea, 42, was on the phone with the operator when authorities arrived a short time later at the Chevron gas station at State Road 44 and Interstate 95 in New Smyrna Beach, police said.

A Port Orange detective and the Volusia County Sheriff's Department found money stolen from the Colonial Bank inside Olea's vehicle, a black 2006 Volkswagen Jetta, police said.

A teller who was brought to the gas station also "positively identified" Olea as the bank-robbery suspect, police said.

Olea, of 3009 Lime Tree Drive, Edgewater, was arrested on a robbery charge and taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he is being held on a $20,000 bond, police said.

At about 10:30 a.m., a man entered the bank at 900 Village Trail in Port Orange and handed the bank teller a note that implied that he had a firearm.

"He demanded that the bank teller put all of the money in a bag, and he relayed to the bank teller that he was "desperate," a police statement said.

"The bank teller handed an undisclosed amount of money to the unidentified white male along with a dye pack. The unidentified white male was last observed driving from the area in a black in color vehicle,'' the statement said.

It's unclear if the dye pack went off.