A man caught on camera beating and dragging his girlfriend down Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach was identified as 31-year-old Scott Glen Knowlton, and the scenes of violence were so clear that deputies moved quickly to make him a priority suspect. The chilling footage circulated Friday after Volusia County deputies released surveillance and body-cam video showing the attack, leaving the community stunned and demanding justice.
Volusia County Chief Deputy Brian Henderson reportedly witnessed the assault and stepped in, but Knowlton fled the scene, abandoning a bag, a revolver, and what deputies say were trafficking amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl. That kind of reckless, violent behavior paired with hard drugs is precisely the poison destroying neighborhoods and ruining lives across our country.
Authorities say Knowlton faced an array of serious charges including trafficking fentanyl, kidnapping, battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, tampering with evidence, obstruction, and multiple probation violations; prosecutors moved to keep him off the streets while the case proceeds. Judges and prosecutors should throw the book at repeat offenders who commit violent crimes while carrying deadly drugs that fuel so much misery in our towns.
Detectives tracked Knowlton to a residence in the 1100 block of Avenue G in Ormond Beach after an anonymous tip, and after hours of surveillance he allegedly tried to slip out a rear window before surrendering in the backyard to deputies who had the house surrounded. The tipster who helped lead police to the suspect will reportedly receive a $1,000 reward — a small but effective reminder that citizens working with law enforcement can stop monsters in their tracks.
This isn’t Knowlton’s first time in trouble; court records show a 2023 no-contest plea related to drug trafficking and grand theft auto charges from a 2022 arrest, underscoring a pattern of criminality that too often goes unpunished long enough to endanger others. Repeat offenders who cycle through probation and back onto the streets are a failure of the system, not of the police who do the dangerous work of keeping people safe.
Hardworking Americans should be grateful for deputies willing to intervene and grateful this suspect is off the street, but gratitude must turn to action — demand tougher enforcement, stiffer sentences for fentanyl traffickers, and no soft treatment for violent repeat offenders. If we want safe neighborhoods for our families, we must back law enforcement, support reward programs that encourage tips, and hold prosecutors and judges accountable when they let criminals walk back into the same neighborhoods they terrorized.
