Deputies: Naked man armed with machete & picking berries attacks surveyor, demands his clothes

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County deputies have arrested a local man who they say was naked when he attacked a land surveyor with a machete and tried to steal his clothes.

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Deputies were first called to an area near the Volusia County Fairgrounds just before 10 a.m. Monday after the surveyor reported that a naked man had approached him while carrying a large machete-style knife.

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The victim told deputies the man had been picking palmetto berries in the woods when he suddenly ran out of the brush waving the machete and demanding the victim’s clothes, wallet and phone.

Even though the surveyor followed his orders, deputies say the suspect eventually threw the machete and a handful of berries at him, but the victim wasn’t harmed.

The suspect, later identified as 34-year-old Brandon Wright, ran back towards the woods and fled the area in a white Dodge Challenger.

Deputies say it wasn’t the first time 34-year-old Brandon Wright had a nude run-in with law enforcement.

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One deputy responding to the call recognized the circumstances of the report and the suspect’s description from an August 2021 incident in which Wright was accused of running around the same area naked.

Deputies say Wright’s car was later picked up by a license plate reader in the DeLand area, and soon after that, they started receiving more reports of a naked man outside a gas station on Spring Garden Ave.

The sheriff’s office helicopter watched Wright from overhead and guided DeLand police officers to his location where he was taken into custody.

Wright was arrested and charged with attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, all felonies.

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He’s being held in the Volusia County jail on a total of $25,000 bond.

Deputies say Wright is no stranger to law enforcement. He has a long record that includes previous convictions for kidnapping in 2009 and battery on a law enforcement officer in 2018.

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