Deputies, Air One Track Down Kidnapping Suspect Who Took 16-Year-Old Girl

Date Added: July 09, 2018 10:48 am

Andrew Gant
Office of Public Affairs & Media Relations

DEPUTIES, AIR ONE TRACK DOWN KIDNAPPING SUSPECT WHO TOOK 16-YEAR-OLD GIRL

Volusia County sheriff’s deputies tracked down and arrested a DeLand man on kidnapping and other charges Sunday after he grabbed a 16-year-old girl in the DeLand area and took her on a ride to DeLeon Springs – where the VCSO Air One helicopter spotted his vehicle.

Deputies responded to the call around 2:55 p.m. Sunday in a neighborhood north of DeLand. The victim told deputies she was walking in the area of Arabesque Drive and Arborvitae Way when 57-year-old Robert A. Dishman (DOB 4/21/1961) approached her on an ATV. Dishman yelled at the girl to get on the ATV. She knew him, so she approached him, and when she did, she said he grabbed her and pulled her onto the ATV. The girl said she was scared, and she knew Dishman has firearms and knives because she’s seen them in the past, so she didn’t try to fight or run away.

Dishman took the girl to his house and then took her for a ride in his car. While she was in the car, the 16-year-old called her mother (while deputies were on scene with her) and indicated she was on a dirt road somewhere in the DeLeon Springs area. The Air One helicopter soon located the vehicle (a gray Lincoln Town Car), and deputies conducted a traffic stop, finding Dishman and the victim in the car. She appeared scared and shaken, but wasn’t injured. The girl’s mother told deputies Dishman has frequently approached her daughter in the past despite being told to stay away.

Dishman was charged with kidnapping, child abuse, interference with child custody and driving while license suspended or revoked. He remains in custody today at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $31,500 bond.