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News & Updates

Niceville Man Arrested After Eight Hour Standoff

A Niceville man is in custody and facing multiple charges following a nine-hour standoff today with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. Deputies were called to a home on 23rd Street around 8:30 a.m. in reference to a domestic battery call. The suspect, Michael...

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Niceville Man Charged with Sexual Battery

A Niceville man is charged with entering a truck where a woman was sleeping on Okaloosa Island and sexually assaulting her. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has charged 23-year old Taylor Copeland of Farrah Avenue with sexual battery and burglary with battery. The...

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Two Charged in Separate Child Porn Possession Cases

On May 11th, investigators with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Section executed simultaneous search warrants at 130 and 136 Noblat Drive in Mary Esther. The investigation began in 2022, after the OCSO Internet Crimes Against Children...

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Texas Tourist Drowns in Gulf of Mexico

A Texas tourist who had just arrived in town drowned this afternoon after being caught in an apparent rip tide in the Gulf of Mexico. The tragic situation unfolded around 1:15 p.m. near the Shirah Beach Access in Destin. A lifeguard noticed the 39-year old in distress...

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Seven Nabbed in Operation April Fools

During the month of April, 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 April's Fools" is part of an going OCSO effort...

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South Carolina Man Charged with Human Trafficking

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office was conducting enforcement operations on Interstate 10 around 9 a.m. this morning when a stop was conducted for a traffic violation. The driver, 44-year old Jose Figueroa of Beaufort, South Carolina was transporting two illegal...

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Thirteen Year Old Tourist Drowns in Gulf Waters

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating the tragic drowning of a 13-year old tourist from Kentucky in the Gulf of Mexico this morning. Deputies were called to 3690 Scenic Highway 98 around 11:30 for a distressed swimmer. Surfers had helped rescue several...

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Spring Break Balcony Fall Fatality

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal balcony fall that took place at a Destin condominium early this morning. A person staying at a neighboring condo noticed a body on the ground near an entry way outside a building at 500 Gulf Shore Drive,...

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OCSO Makes Arrest in 1999 Sexual Battery Case

24 years after a woman reported being sexually assaulted in the Poquito Bayou area near Shalimar, the suspect, now aged 60 and living under an alias, is behind bars in Okaloosa County. Charles Craig Senior was recently transferred to the Okaloosa County Jail from the...

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Fugitive’s Getaway Attempt in Car & on Foot Fails

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Street Crimes Unit (SCU) attempted to pull over a man with active felony warrants driving on State Road 85 last night, but the suspect decided to try to make a getaway instead. A traffic stop was attempted around 11:30 Tuesday...

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K9 Team Tracks Holt Man with Felony Warrants

A Holt resident wanted on charges of aggravated assault, firing missiles into an occupied conveyance, and discharging a firearm in public tried to run from an attempted warrant service today but was ultimately captured. 21-year old Hunter Carmichael was taken into...

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OCSO Charged Man with Sexual Assault of 12-Year-Old

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has charged a Fort Walton Beach man with sexually assaulting a 12-year old girl in Destin. 58-year old Jack Colton of Beal Parkway is charged with sexual assault with a victim between the ages of twelve and eighteen. OCSO deputies...

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Four of Five Teen Suspects Captured After Fleeing

Four teens ranging in age from 13 to 16 were arrested by Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies in Crestview this morning after deputies responded to reports of suspicious activity around 5 a.m. A homeowner on Richburg Lane says he noticed a flashlight outside his...

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