Crime Archive

Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s deputies didn’t have to travel far to arrest someone this morning when a Milton man overturned his vehicle at the agency’s main office on East Milton Road Friday, March 31. Timothy Michael Wright, 24, of Milton, was arrested and charged with DUI after his car crashed into a tree and overturned. According to a Florida Highway Patrol press release, FHP responded to a single vehicle crash at 1:34 a.m. at the Sheriff’s Office.

At a news conference Monday, March 6, Sheriff Bob Johnson announced an arrest in a swatting case related to a gun threat was called into Milton High School last year. Brad Parga, 17, of Guttenberg, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with felony fraud for a false report of using firearms in a violent manner and disturbing the peace by interfering with school administration functions, which is a misdemeanor.

The old ball and chain has been given a new meaning. On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson spoke at a news conference about a murder for hire case involving a man and a woman from Pace. “I think this is my first Valentine’s Day press conference,” Johnson said. “That’s kind of appropriate because we’re going to tell you about a love story.” “I think this is my first Valentine’s Day press conference,” Johnson said. “That’s kind of appropriate because we’re going to tell you about a love story.”

A Milton man and former preacher is in Santa Rosa County Jail for illicit sexual acts with minors. Jason Robert Moore, 42, of the 1100 block of Adrian Way in Milton, was arrested by agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations following an investigation involving child sex abuse.

A former Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office deputy will be seeing the inside of a federal prison cell for the next year. Scott P. Haines, 50, of Milton, was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison, following his previous guilty plea on the charge of making material false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during an elder exploitation investigation. United States Attorney Jason R. Coody announced the sentence.

Richard Wood, a Milton history and true crime buff, recently published “Mayhem in the Florida Panhandle,” a book of true stories culled from newspaper archives and numerous conversations with residents.

On Sept. 18, at approximately 6:50 p.m., Milton Police Department officers responded to a suspicious person complaint in the 5500 block of Dogwood Drive in Milton.

Police found a man lying on the ground who was shot by a homeowner after allegedly charging the man. The man who was shot is in critical condition at an area hospital.

Beginning in 2018, the DEA and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office partnered in an investigation into a Drug Trafficking Organization responsible for distributing kilogram amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl within Okaloosa County.

Named Operation Songbird, the years long investigation utilized numerous investigative techniques to identify members of the Drug Trafficking Organization and locations utilized by the Drug Trafficking Organization.

A Milton woman was arrested by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents after an investigation alleging she defrauded Faith Baptist Church in Milton over a period of six years.

A Milton man is wanted for multiple charges, including grand theft of a firearm.

Garrett Lee Seimer, 22, is wanted for two counts of Burglary of a dwelling or structure or Conveyance armed, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance unarmed, larceny grand theft of a firearm, larceny, and damaged property with criminal mischief.