DELTONA, FL – On March 6, 2022 at approximately 2 a.m. Volusia sheriff’s deputies responded to Dizzy D’s at 1200 Deltona Blvd in Deltona after witnesses reported two men were stabbed during an altercation outside the bar. Both of the injured men were transported to an area hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
The other parties involved in the fight left the scene. Using witness information, surveillance video, social media, fingerprints and other technology and tactics, detectives identified 26-year-old Antonio Juan Santiago Jr. and 46-year-old Ernesto Maldonado Rivera as the two men who fled in a vehicle after the bar fight.
According to authorities, the fight started over a missing cell phone. When one of the victims asked the suspects if they’d seen the phone, they were offended and became aggressive. The surveillance video showed the suspect later identified as Santiago as the main aggressor in the fight. He continued attacking with a knife multiple times after the fight could have ended, stabbing the victims from behind.
Santiago Jr. was arrested Thursday evening in Deltona on a warrant charging him with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He remains in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail with a bond of $100,000. Maldonado Rivera, who was involved in the fight but did not use a weapon, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Deltona and charged with tampering with physical evidence and accessory after the fact. He was released from jail later Wednesday after posting $10,000 bail.
The victims were hospitalized but survived after treatment of serious injuries.
or a specific category with our 