The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident that began with an armed carjacking in Baker and ended with the suspect crashing the stolen car near Fort Walton Beach and fleeing on foot. The initial report indicates a man took a cream-colored Kia Soul at gunpoint around 6:30 Wednesday evening from a church parking lot on State Road 189 near Barnhill Road. He then headed south down 189.
A Crestview Police Officer spotted the car a short time later and stopped it, but the driver fled on State Road 85. A pursuit got underway, but suspect eventually crashed the car at the Fantasy Lounge on Lewis Turner Boulevard and Hospital Drive near Fort Walton Beach. He took off and deputies quickly established a perimeter. They conducted an intense search in the area that included at least one K9 unit.
The victim describes the carjacker as a young, thinly built white male with short hair and a visible tattoo on his neck and top portion of his chest.
No injuries were reported. Anyone with information on the carjacking is asked to contact the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office at 860-651-7400 or Emerald Coast Crime
Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS.
