News & Updates

A road rage incident in Destin that escalated into a driver pointing a gun at another driver led to a Georgia man's arrest Wednesday by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. 23-year old Daniel Schmidt is charged with aggravated assault with a firearm. The victim says...

A Choctawhatchee High School student is charged with possession of a weapon on school property after he was found in possession of a knife in his classroom Tuesday morning. An Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officer retrieved it from 16 year old Ethan...

A school health technician at Destin Middle School was charged December 1st with stealing prescription medication from several students and in some instances, replacing their medications with aspirin or Aleve. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has charged 27-year...

A Niceville area woman has been charged with felony murder following a fatal shooting at her home on Adams Street Saturday evening. 58-year old Susan Cole called 9-1-1 around 8:30 p.m. to report she shot someone in a domestic violence related incident. Okaloosa County...

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating a stabbing that left an area hiker with life-threatening injuries Tuesday evening. The victim and his wife had befriended a homeless man when they arrived in Crestview and set up a camp on the Florida Natural...

Six people were arrested on various charges after the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Section executed a search warrant October 28th at a residence at 1966 Chesapeake Ridge near Fort Walton Beach. On the scene deputies found a total of: 121...

A former Shalimar area tennis coach on the run from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office since 2007 has finally been tracked down and is behind bars awaiting extradition. 70-year old Mark Burns has OCSO warrants for unlawful sexual activity with a minor and more....

A student at Crestview High School is charged with two felonies after an investigation revealed he had armed himself with a razor blade in preparation for a planned off-campus after-school fight today. Information was obtained that 16-year old Tyler Mahler had a...

A Crestview man who asked a child to drive him back to his house Sunday is now charged with one count of child neglect without great bodily harm. A witness spotted a car entering Oak Hill Road from a neighborhood around 8 a.m. yesterday and suspected the driver was...

A Florosa man who was being held in a Seneca County Ohio jail on an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office warrant for manslaughter/negligent homicide in connection with an overdose death is now back in Florida. 46-year old Chad Long of Woodland Avenue was picked up July...

OCSO Marine Unit Deputy Sheriff Daniel Williams has been named the 2022 National Officer of the Year by the National Association of Safe Boating Law Administrators! He's been with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office since April 2017 and consistently displays a strong...

Ten people were arrested on wide-ranging charges after the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Section served a narcotics search warrant at a home where deputies had been called for past overdoses and neighbors had complained about junk and trash...

A gunman killed after he fired at Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies September 21st in Destin has been identified as 45-year old Berlin Gonzales. Deputies were called to Sailmaker Lane in Destin after getting reports of an armed disturbance at a home under...

A Mary Esther man taken into custody in April following a bond revocation now faces three felony narcotics charges after a search warrant turned up methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine in the car he was driving. The Volkswagon was towed to the Okaloosa County...

A Crestview man who faced a half dozen charges after fleeing an attempted traffic stop had two more felonies added after deputies served a search warrant on his residence: trafficking in fentanyl and trafficking in methamphetamine. An Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office...

An investigation into a dispute over a home remodeling project in Mary Esther led to charges of grand theft and engaging in contracting without certification against a Fort Walton Beach man. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office arrested 44-year old Robert Brezeale...

Sheriff Eric Aden today praised the composure and training of Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies confronted by an armed man who fired shots during a domestic violence related incident in Destin Wednesday. When the 45-year old suspect fired at two deputies who...

One person is dead after deputies responding to a call of an armed disturbance encountered a man chasing a woman inside the Regatta Bay Community in Destin. No deputies were injured. Investigators say it appears to have been a domestic violence situation, with the...

A new missing boater public alert notification system to aid in the search for missing/endangered boaters and kayakers has now been launched as the result of a collaborative effort between the City of Destin, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, and the Okaloosa...

A young employee outside a Fort Walton Beach area restaurant rushed to help a screaming woman holding a baby this afternoon after a man grabbed her keys and tried to take her car. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has charged 43-year old William Branch of DeFuniak...