Daytona Beach board orders 7‑day closure of Jay Food Store; owner must run background checks, pay fine

The Daytona Beach Nuisance Abatement Board voted Thursday to close Jay Food Store, 600 N. Ridgewood Ave., for seven days beginning Jan. 27 and to require background checks on all store employees and any contracted security guards, after hearing months‑long testimony from police, the store owner and the store’s security contractor.

The board also ordered the owner to pay a previously assessed $5,000 penalty no later than Feb. 4, 2025. Board members said the step was necessary to enforce a February 2024 abatement order that the board found the business had not fully complied with.

Why it matters: Board members and city attorneys told the panel Jay Food Store has a long history of nuisance findings dating to earlier orders and that public‑safety concerns at the property — including arrests for drug possession and repeated police calls — have persisted. Police evidence presented at the hearing showed hundreds of calls logged to that address in the last year; the police witness summarized that “199 calls were actually originated from that property,” including calls initiated by store staff or security. Owner Raymond Sayeed acknowledged the expense of private security and told the board “it is close to $70,000” spent on security services since the prior order.

Testimony and evidence

Daytona Beach Police Sergeant Shauna Conley, the…