Eric Saylor
Earvin Jackson
A deputy on alert for smash and grab car burglaries spotted one in action at Beasley Park on Okaloosa Island Thursday. Quick action by responding units helped nab two suspects trying to make a getaway.
A deputy saw a man smash the passenger side window of a white truck at the park and take a woman’s purse and bag yesterday before jumping into a white Nissan Rogue and taking off. The driver dropped off the passenger at a convenience store across the street. Deputies making a traffic stop on the Nissan Rogue saw items taken from the burglary in plain view. A short time later, they also found the second suspect near Fudpuckers restaurant on Okaloosa Island.
35-year old Eric Saylor of Shalimar and 31-year old Earvin Jackson of Fort Walton Beach are now charged with burglary, grand theft, and criminal mischief. In addition, Saylor is also charged with having contraband in the jail, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A Corrections Officer at the Okaloosa County Jail in Crestview spotted Saylor on a video surveillance camera crouched down in a cell, appearing to be snorting something off the bench. He discovered Saylor was snorting heroin he had hidden in his rectum. He had made a tube out of cardboard from the jail cell’s toilet paper roll to snort the drug.
There have been a rash of smash and grab car burglaries on Okaloosa Island and in Destin during the month of March with numerous purses and wallets being taken. Two were also reported yesterday to vehicles parked along Highway 98 near the seawall on Okaloosa Island.
The investigation continues.
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