Deputies: Woman robbed while loading groceries

DELTONA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Volusia County deputies are warning Deltona residents about an armed robbery in the middle of the daytime outside of a grocery store.

Deputies said Marissa Barbuti was loading groceries into her car outside of the Publix at 605 Courtland Boulevard. According to the incident report a man then pulled up in a blue car next to her and produced a handgun through the window.

"Then I turn around and the guy just has a gun pointed at me,” said Barbuti.

Barbuti said the man simply said to her, ‘don’t say anything,’ grabbed her purse from the cart and took off. She said she stood in the rainy parking lot stunned as other shoppers came up to offer help.

Barbuti had to drive back to her home to contact the Sheriff’s Office because she said her cell phone was inside the purse that was stolen. She later used a tracker app on her phone to locate it, thrown along the side of a road.

The suspect is described as a light-skinned Hispanic man, heavy-set, between the age of 25 and 35. Barbuti said he had dark eyes, short dark hair, and was wearing a red shirt at the time. She also said the man was in a blue car, but in the shock of the situation she didn’t get the license plate number.

The incident also seemed to be random; she said she’d never seen the man before.

"The scary thing is that he was watching me. He was waiting for the moment to pull up on me,” said Barbuti.