Deputies in Deltona arrest burglary, assault suspect who ran into woods

A fleeing burglary and assault suspect who shattered a window trying to break into a Deltona home before pulling a knife on a neighbor was spotted and arrested Thursday after a 2-hour search off State Road 415, where he ran into the woods to hide.

Deputies responded to the house on the 1300 block of Azora Drive in Deltona around 1:45 p.m. Thursday after witnesses reported Christopher Sosa (DOB 8/9/1989) had broken a window and cut a screen door in an attempt to force his way inside.

When a neighbor came outside, Sosa pointed a knife at him and threatened to kill him.

It was determined Sosa had been an unwanted guest at the house for about 3 weeks without paying rent or contributing in any way, and the residents had informed him several times he was no longer welcome there.

He was gone when deputies arrived, but a deputy soon spotted him driving on Saxon Boulevard and attempted a traffic stop. Sosa took off at high speed, fled through Deltona, and at one point hit the bumper of a deputy who attempted to stop him when he entered the parking area of Pine Ridge High School. From there, Sosa fled south on Howland Boulevard, where a deputy successfully deployed stop sticks. Sosa kept going, but eventually abandoned his disabled car on the side of SR 415 and ran into the woods.

An extensive search began in the area off SR 415 and Reed Ellis Road, with the help of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. An alert citizen reported seeing a man come out of the woods at the bridge near the Volusia-Seminole county line. Just before 4 p.m., Sosa was spotted in the brush about 400 yards west of SR 415. With his escape path blocked, he complied with orders to get on the ground and was taken into custody without further incident.

Sosa was charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, 2 counts of criminal mischief, resisting an officer without violence, and armed trespassing on school property. Sosa remained in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail on Friday morning with a bond of $45,500.