Crime Archive

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.

On July 9, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrested six alleged online sexual predators. One of the six arrested is a Milton resident.

Jordan Scott Towery, 28, was arrested after he solicited sexual activity from an undercover officer, who was posing as a 14 year old girl. According to the arrest report, Towery drove to a predetermined location in Okaloosa County to meet the juvenile. Instead of being greeted by an underage girl, Towery was greeted by deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Following several days of investigation, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office gave an update on the case of the body found floating in Jake’s Bayou in Milton on June 14.

In a June 17 press conference held by the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Bob Johnson identified the body of a man found in Jake’s Bayou as that of Joshua James. He was identified through fingerprint analysis.

A 29 year old Milton man was booked into jail on June 3 after investigators with the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office began looking into him following a traffic stop.

The man, Mark Anthony Frate, was stopped on June 3 after a sergeant with Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office noticed that Frate was driving down the road at four in the morning with a two year old in his lap. The two year old was unrestrained in the car.