A federal fugitive is behind bars in Santa Rosa County after an Aug. 24 traffic stop uncovered cocaine and other drugs in the vehicle near Garcon Point Road and Interstate 10.

The Aug. 22 serving of a search warrant in Milton uncovered approximately 3,500 pills of fentanyl. According to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, 3,500 pills of fentanyl with a street value upwards of $40,000.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Robert Patrick Jernigan, 53, of Milton, Thursday night in connection with the murder of Stephen Lee Jernigan.

The teenage son of Rebekah Jones, a data analyst and former Democratic Party candidate for U.S. House, has been charged with intimidation, a second-degree felony. Jackson Jones, 13, was arrested for allegedly threatening to conduct a mass shooting at Holley Navarre Middle School, where he was previously a student. The threats first came to the attention of Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office March 20, when an East Bay K8 student told school officials about a school shooting threat she saw on social media.

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.

On May 6, a 44-year-old Milton man drove his wife and stepdaughter home after his wife had car troubles. According to the arrest report, the man took them home in his work van, which has no backseats, leaving the stepdaughter unrestrained. His wife stated that on the drive, the 44-year-old was yelling, crying, swerving and slamming on the brakes, leaving the stepdaughter to be thrown around the back seat, injuring her wrist and leg.