- April 28, 2024
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Two men knocked on the front door of a Bunnell residence early Sunday morning and, when the homeowner answered, forced their way inside and demanded money, according to police.
The robbers pushed around the victim, Ray Mercer, who was bleeding from both of his forearms when police arrived on scene around 1:30 a.m.
Mercer said he gave one of them about $200, at which point the man “apologized to him and said that ‘they’ were making him do this,” the police report reads.
Mercer said he could hear a third man yelling from outside for the other men to hurry up. Once they had Mercer’s money, the three men fled.
One man, Edmon Welch, was arrested in connection to the robbery. Two other men — Jody Medders and Julio Allen — were questioned about the robbery and then arrested on unrelated charges of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and possession of methadone, respectively.
When police arrived on scene, Mercer told them he believed one of the robbers to be Medders, who was the only person who knew that Mercer kept money in his home. The two men had a strained relationship. The day before the robbery, Bunnell Police Chief Jeff Hoffman had advised officers to keep an extra watch on Mercer’s home because Medders had been accused of harassing Mercer.
Police began searching for Medders. They soon spotted him on South Church Street and detained him. While patting Medders down, a deputy found a large bullet in Medders’ pocket. Medders is a convicted felon, so he cannot legally possess weapons or ammunition.
When questioned, Medders said that he had met Eddie Welch at the Jiffy Food Store around closing time and spoke with him briefly before leaving him.
Medders said he then watched the man make contact with Julio Allen, who came out of the woods. Medders said he followed the two men because he “knew they were up to something,” a police report says. Medders said he watched the men enter Mercer’s house and then flee from it several minutes later.
Just after 2:30 a.m., a deputy saw Allen, who was on foot and shirtless, at the intersection of East Howe Street and North Cherry Street. The officer stopped Allen and patted him down, discovering methadone on him in the process.
Allen was arrested and then questioned, but said he had an alibi: He was at the Dog Pound Saloon in Bunnell at the time of the home invasion. That alibi was later confirmed.
Medders’ story also prompted deputies to search for Welch. Just before 4:30 a.m., two deputies saw a shirtless man on foot. Believing the man to be Welch, the deputies secured him.
The man said he had identification in his wallet, so deputies retrieved it and confirmed that he was Welch. As they did, a small cellophane wrapper with a white, powdery substance fell to the ground. A test later identified the substance as cocaine.
Medders was never identified by Mercer as a perpetrator, so he was not charged for the robbery, but he was charged with possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and violation of probation.
Because Allen had a confirmed alibi, he was not charged with the home invasion, either. Instead, he was charged with possession of methadone.
Welch did not have a verifiable alibi, and Mercer identified him, so he was charged with home invasion robbery, battery on a person over 65, petit theft and possession of cocaine. He remained in the Flagler County Inmate Facility Monday on $14,000 bond.
Medders also remained in jail Monday. His bond is set at $2,000. Allen was released on $1,000 bond.
