News & Updates

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has charged a Fort Walton Beach area man with second degree murder in connection with a shooting death last November. 39-year old Tavares Gainer is accused of shooting Deshaun Frazier November 20th, 2020 inside a mobile home at 107...

A Holt man is charged with negligent manslaughter following an incident at his home Wednesday night. Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputies were called to a residence on Wilkerson Bluff Road around 7:30 p.m. 61-year old Ronald Norris says he was alone in his home when he...

A Texas visitor is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he pulled a gun and pointed it at another person during a road rage incident on Okaloosa Island Sunday night. The victim says 31-year old Billy Steward Jr. was in a white Dodge Charger...

Less than three months after a Crestview man led Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies on a high speed chase that ended with his arrest, he faces several of the same charges in connection with an incident yesterday in Crestview that ended when he crashed his car....

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has charged a Fort Walton Beach area woman with kidnapping/false imprisonment of a child. 29-year old Alyssandra Eytzen, no known address, was spotted with the six-year old Thursday in Pinecrest Mobile Home Park Thursday afternoon....

Two Fort Walton Beach area residents died in a traffic accident that took place around 2:20 p.m. on Highway 98 in Destin Thursday. A 2009 Nissan Altima was making a left turn onto Henderson Beach Rd. from U.S. 98 and crossed into the path of a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado...

A five day operation this month targeting the on-line solicitation of children by sexual predators has already netted a dozen arrests and counting, with charges pending against numerous other individuals and more suspects to be identified. Undercover law enforcement...

Members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Dive Team today recovered the body of a missing free diver off the coast of Destin. The experienced free diver was spearfishing on a dive site called Mack's Reef, about two miles southwest of the Destin Pass Wednesday...

The OCSO uses innovative what3words technology to locate multiple 9-1-1 callers in distress. ● Emergency communication centers and responders in Okaloosa County are starting to use groundbreaking location technology what3words to locate 9-1-1 callers faster ● The...

An Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Investigation ended with a Crestview man charged with molesting a child on numerous occasions. 36-year old Brandon Dykes has been arrested on three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child, four counts of promoting the...

The OCSO is investigating a drowning that took place around 10 p.m. July 25th off 100 Water Street near Fort Walton Beach. The 59-year old victim, no known address, was seen in distress, but due to murky waters initially could not be located when he went under. When...

A Shalimar man suspected in the stabbing death of his wife last May was found deceased at the Okaloosa County Jail in Crestview this morning. The 51-year old was discovered hanging in his cell during a routine cell check around 4:30 a.m. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's...

Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office investigators say the circumstances surrounding a man's death on Highway 98 early morning July 22nd appear to involve suicide or are the results of a tragic accident. The victim, a 31-year old tourist from Gainesville Texas, was having...

A traffic stop for speeding led to the arrest Sunday of a Mary Esther man for trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and more. An Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputy pulled over 38-year old Joel Walls on Highway 98 in Mary...

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating an apparent drowning that took place in the Gulf of Mexico this morning around 8:15 off Okaloosa Island. Witnesses say the 40 year old victim, address unknown, had been swimming alone near The Boardwalk at 1450...

A man in a stolen car led Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies on a chase near Eglin Air Force Base, Shalimar, and Wright and rammed a patrol car before deputies pushed him off the roadway with their vehicles and took him into custody. At one point, 39-year old...

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is searching for 19-year old John William Galvao-Sahb for questioning in connection with the fatal shooting of a Fort Walton Beach man March 17th. 48-year old Earnest Riggs was shot inside his rental work truck while parked in the...

A Destin woman was taken into custody Tuesday following a string of 9-1-1 calls in reference to a reckless driver on Highway 98 heading across Okaloosa Island towards Destin around 2:30 p.m. Witnesses reported the white Ford Explorer hitting a traffic sign in the...

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is searching for a suspect in connection with the fatal shooting July 10th of an 8o-year old Crestview man at Shoal River/Duggan Park south of Crestview. 22-year old Johnny Ray Kirk of Santa Rosa Beach has active OCSO warrants for...

Investigators are on the scene of an apparent homicide at Shoal River Wayside Park, aka as Duggan Park, off Highway 85 south of Crestview. A 9-1-1 call came in around 1:30 after an individual spotted a man on the ground with what appeared to be blood. OCSO...