News & Updates

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

On 09/04/2024 members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Drug Task Force executed a narcotics search warrant at 301 Goldenrod Ct. in Niceville. During the execution of the search warrant, investigators located fentanyl, cocaine, and narcotics...

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has charged a Tallahassee man with soliciting a juvenile online for sex. 35-year old David Christopher Roberts of Teal Lane was arrested yesterday. OCSO investigators say in April 2023 they set up and conducted an online chatting...

Quick actions by deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office led to the arrests yesterday of two New York residents believed to be part of a nationwide scheme involving stolen and fraudulent returns at businesses. Following a traffic stop in Destin around 2:30...

We continue to wish Mr. Fortson’s family comfort and peace, as the former deputy’s criminal case proceeds. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) has been fully accountable and transparent in its compliance with statutory requirements, providing numerous public...