ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – A man delivering flowers on Valentine's Day had his vehicle with thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise inside stolen while dropping off gifts, according to the Ormond Beach Police Department.
The victim said he left his keys in his vehicle while delivering flowers on South Young Street shortly before 10:30 a.m. when a woman jumped inside, snatched the keys from the center console and drove off, a news release said.
The vehicle is a candy apple red 2016 Hyundai SUV. The owner of that vehicle, Chris Jessup, was making deliveries for The Flower Market to help out with the holiday rush.
"I dropped the flowers off, came out and the car was gone," Jessup said.
Employees at the business said the man was carjacked during his second delivery of the day and had 15 more deliveries inside the SUV, amounting to about $3,000 worth of flowers.
Police said the flowers were found dumped near a subdivision on Bella Vita Way and Destiny Drive in Ormond Beach. As of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, the stolen vehicle had not been found.
Employees at The Flower Market said they are going to attempt to fulfill the 15 deliveries that were in the stolen vehicle, but if not, the flowers will be delivered on Thursday.
"We're just making people's Valentine's Day better and you're just going to take something that doesn't belong to you. That just messed up their whole day with bringing joy to ladies and gentlemen that are getting flowers," employee Katlin Kelley said.