Two teens who escaped from the Okaloosa Youth Academy Tuesday night were tracked down several hours later north of the facility. 14-year old Kurtis Lee Canning and 15-year old Joseph Timothy Enfinger, both of Santa Rosa County, are now charged with escape from a residential commitment facility, resisting an officer without violence, and criminal mischief over one thousand dollars.
A staff member at the Okaloosa Youth Academy at 4455 Straight Line Road (Crestview) spotted the pair running from the complex into the woods around 7:30 p.m. yesterday. The employee also found a bent security screen window in the juveniles’ dorm area. Tracking dogs from Okaloosa Correctional Institution and two K9 Teams from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office joined in the search. Deputy Tim Patterson and K9 “Dax, along with Deputy Martin Jennings and K9 “Ryker”, braved a nearby swamp while looking for the escaped teens, who at one point could be heard yelling out in the woods. The pair was located shortly after eleven p.m. Tuesday night and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
