News & Updates
Drug Task Force Arrests Crestview Man Following Search Warrant
Members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Drug Task Force executed a narcotics search warrant at 353 West James Lee Blvd. in Crestview on December 13th. During the execution of the search warrant, investigators located MDMA, marijuana and a handgun....
Crestview Teen Arrested Following School Threat
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has charged an Okaloosa Online Student with making an electronic threat of a mass shooting/terrorist act. 13-year old Vaida Jasmine McDougald was taken into custody Monday afternoon at her home in Crestview. The OCSO received...
OCSO Investigating After Body Discovered Floating In Water Behind FWB Home
UPDATE: We are heartbroken to report that the deceased individual has been identified as 17-year old Brandon Bailey. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Brandon's family. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating after the body of a young male was...
Deputies Quickly Track Down Robbery Suspect
Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies and investigators identified and located a man following a convenience store armed robbery yesterday afternoon in Mary Esther. 51-year old David Michael Stephens, no known address, was taken into custody yesterday following a...
OCSO Statement Reference Niceville Bomb Threat
The OCSO received notification of a bomb threat referencing former Congressman Matt Gaetz's supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville area around 9 a.m. this morning. A family member resides at the address but former Congressman Gaetz is NOT a resident. The mailbox...
Operation Cold Turkey Nabs Nine
During the month of November, members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Section conducted an undercover operation targeting adults looking to meet minors online for sexual encounters. “Operation Cold Turkey” is part of an on-going effort...
FWB Man Arrested for Child Sexual Battery
An investigation by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has led to the arrest of a Fort Walton Beach man on charges of sexual battery on a victim under the age of 12, more than 30 counts of promoting the sexual performance of a child, and more than 30 counts of...
Fentanyl & Meth Arrest in Laurel Hill
Members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Drug Task Force, with the assistance of the Special Response Team, executed a narcotics search warrant at 8087 Third St., in Laurel Hill November 8th. During the execution of the search warrant,...
OCSO Charges Georgia Man with Human Smuggling
An Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy who made a traffic stop near Crestview early this morning charged a Georgia man with human smuggling. The deputy spotted MIchael Frost of Columbus Georgia driving northbound in the southbound lanes of State Road 85 near Airport Road...
Juvenile Arrested Following School Threat
A Crestview middle school student tried to talk a friend out of bringing weapons to school, then made sure to tell an adult after his upset friend said he planned to use the weapons to kill two students who had been bullying him. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office...
Shalimar Man Arrested for Impersonating Officer with YouTube
A man pulled over on Highway 98 in Mary Esther November 4th called the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office to report a possible police impersonator. Responding deputies found the citizen had been pulled over by 69-year old Salvatore Gruny of Shalimar. Gruny was in his...
Texas Man Charged with Aggravated Battery with Deadly Weapon
A Texas man has been charged with putting a knife to a woman’s neck and threatening her life while she sat on a bench at 300 Mountain Drive in Destin October 31st. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has charged 58-year old Paul Besinger of San Antonio Texas with...
Update on Destin Traffic Crash
On Friday evening, October 25, 2024, shortly before 6:30 p.m., a gray 2023 Dodge Charger, occupied by four teens, was traveling west on Emerald Coast Parkway in Destin from the Walton County line. Witnesses reported that the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of...
K-9 Team Locates Holt Man Wanted for DOMV Battery & False Imprisonment
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested 38-year old David Johnson of Holt Wednesday for domestic violence battery and other charges. The victim says she and Johnson live in a vehicle at a campground at Wilderness Landing Road. She told deputies during an...
Man Who Supplied Narcotics Charged in Teenager’s Overdose Death
An Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the drug overdose death of a Fort Walton Beach teenager has led to the arrest of the suspect who supplied the illegal narcotics. 21-year old Quion Cortez Purnell was charged with homicide caused by the unlawful...
OCSO Investigating Reported Sexual Battery
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a teen says she was sexually assaulted inside a storage unit in Fort Walton Beach. The teen says she left a Mountain Dew on the curb outside a convenience store at 1209 Miracle Strip Parkway September 30th...
Narcotics Search Warrant Nets Three Arrests in Crestview
Three people have been arrested following the execution of a narcotics search warrant at 663 Lee Avenue in Crestview September 26th by members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Drug Task Force. During the execution of the search warrant,...
OCSO Charges Man with Shooting into Occupied FedEx Delivery Van
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man for firing two shots into an occupied FedEx delivery van Thursday in Cinco Bayou, nearly striking the driver. 27-year-old Brian Quinones, address unknown, is now charged with two counts of attempted second degree...
Joint OCSO/OCSD News Release – Teen Arrested for Electronic Threat
Following an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office investigation, a Fort Walton Beach area teen is now charged with making electronic threats to kill or do bodily harm. 15-year old Aubrey Scherf was taken into custody on an active warrant September 13th. The 12 year old...
OCSO Charges FWB Couple with Five Counts of Child Neglect
The discovery of a young child running nude in the area of Green Acres Road and Green Acres Boulevard around 9 a.m. yesterday morning ultimately led to the arrest of two people on five counts of child neglect. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Deputies spotted the boy...