Ginger Gadsden

1 week ago | clickorlando.com | Ginger Gadsden

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has never been one to mince words. Known for his blunt style and no-holds-barred approach to crime, Chitwood has built a national reputation by saying and doing what many others won't. One word has become his signature: "scumbag."As I spent the day riding shotgun with the sheriff, I wanted to know why he started using his infamous phrase. Turns out, it's personal. "My father. That's how he would refer to you," Chitwood said.

3 weeks ago | clickorlando.com | Ginger Gadsden

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - It's just after 5 a.m. and Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood is not behind a desk - he's on the front lines. At a mobile home in Edgewater, deputies are preparing to serve a search warrant on a suspected drug dealer - a convicted felon they've been tracking for weeks. The SWAT team and Edgewater police are also onsite, responding to complaints from neighbors about constant traffic in and out of the home. After days of surveillance, they confirm the suspect is inside. It's go time.

3 weeks ago | clickorlando.com | Ginger Gadsden

DeLAND, Fla. - When Hurricane Milton tore through DeLand last October, the rain fell hard and did not stop. Fire Chief Todd Allen said parts of the city saw 20 inches of rain in 24 hours, with 1 inch falling in just 20 minutes. Emergency crews were already on alert, but no one expected what came next. At first, the reports were familiar: standing water and downed trees. Then came something different. An entire neighborhood, Glen Eagles, was completely underwater.

1 month ago | clickorlando.com | Ginger Gadsden

DELAND, Fla. - David and Jamie Swink had weathered plenty of Florida storms in their DeLand home. But when Hurricane Milton rolled through last October, it brought something they hadn't prepared for: water rising fast and from every direction. David said he and his wife "thought we were OK" being above sea level, but they woke up to something they didn't expect. "At 6:30 it was dry," David recalled.

1 month ago | clickorlando.com | Ginger Gadsden

EDGEWATER, Fla. - News 6 recently spent the day with Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood, a lawman known as much for his tough talk as for his front-line leadership. Chitwood has made headlines across Central Florida, famously labeling some of Volusia's most wanted criminals as "scumbags" and even greeting extradited suspects at the airport himself. But what does a typical day actually look like for the sheriff? We wanted to find out. Our morning began well before sunrise in Edgewater, Florida.