South Walton county, Florida & Scenic Hwy 30A - SouthWaltonScene.com™

From the WCSO - Attempted Burglary Arrest in Sandestin

Walton County, FL (July 18, 2010) - Early Sunday morning, Walton County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested three juvenile males for attempted burglary in Sandestin. Around midnight Saturday night, Deputy Sheriff Glenister was working an extra duty detail when he learned that a security guard was in foot pursuit of three juvenile males, who had just attempted to burglarize a tiki bar on the beach using a pair of bolt cutters.

Deputy Glenister responded to the area along with Deputy Molinets to assist in searching the area, where a juvenile male fitting the description of one of the suspects was located. The suspect was cooperative and informed the deputy he had been on the beach with two other male juveniles. The other two suspects were located and brought to the area and later identified as the other two males seen attempting to break-in to the tiki bar.

All three juveniles were arrested for attempted burglary of a structure and criminal mischief and were  booked into the Walton County Jail. The three juveniles were later released to their guardians

From the Walton County Sheriff's Office - WCSO warns public of another phone scam

Walton County, FL (June 15, 2010) – The Walton County Sheriff’s Office received a report this week of another telephone scam. Wednesday morning at 5:30 AM a Santa Rosa Beach resident woke up to her telephone ringing, the caller announced that she had won five thousand dollars.

The caller claimed to be affiliated with Publishers Clearing House and they wanted to hand deliver the check to her Santa Rosa Beach address. The caller instructed her to go to the closest Western Union and immediately wire $216.44 to a West Palm Beach address.

The caller had the residents name, address, home phone, and cell phone number. The resident did not provide the caller with any further information but listened and gathered as much information as possible to report to the WCSO.  It is important for people to remember to never give out personal information to someone you do not know and especially over the telephone.

From the WCSO - Memorial Day Weekend Safety and Sobriety Checkpoint on Scenic Hwy 30A

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Walton County, FL (May 24, 2010)- The Walton County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting a Safety and Sobriety Checkpoint on the westbound roadway of Scenic Highway 30-A, 1.4 miles East of Highway 98, in Santa Rosa Beach. The Checkpoint will be on Sunday, May 30, starting at midnight and concluding at 4:00 AM.

This checkpoint is not only to detect and apprehend alcohol and drug-impaired drivers, but also to increase the public’s awareness of the DUI problem, encourage drivers to use good judgment and moderation when planning to drive, and to encourage persons who consume an alcoholic beverage to seek and choose alternate methods of transportation rather than driving themselves.

The Walton County Sheriff’s Office is committed to promoting safety for motorists using the public highways and providing a deterrent for those who violate laws that regulate and control motor vehicle traffic. The WCSO reminds everyone to obey traffic laws and encourages everyone to have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

From the South Walton Police Blotter - South Walton Burglary Arrest

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Inlet Beach, FL (April 27, 2010) – A report of a suspicious person in a South Walton County neighborhood leads to an arrest.  At around eleven o’clock Monday night, a homeowner on North Walton Lakeshore Drive [MAP] reported a man came to her house and began to beat on her door.  The homeowner did not open the door, and she observed the individual getting inside her neighbor’s vehicle.

A Walton County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived and began investigating the incident.  The Deputy noticed a man sitting on a nearby home’s front porch.  The homeowner told the Deputy that the individual was an old friend of her daughters.  The individual identified himself as 20-year-old Travis Ray Johnson of Inlet Beach.  He had two GPS vehicle mapping systems under the rocking chair he was sitting on.  In addition, he had cell phone charges, a camera, and several other items in his pockets.

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Inlet Beach, FL (April 27, 2010) – A report of a suspicious person in a South Walton County neighborhood leads to an arrest.  At around eleven o’clock Monday night, a homeowner on North Walton Lakeshore Drive [MAP] reported a man came to her house and began to beat on her door.  The homeowner did not open the door, and she observed the individual getting inside her neighbor’s vehicle.

A Walton County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived and began investigating the incident.  The Deputy noticed a man sitting on a nearby home’s front porch.  The homeowner told the Deputy that the individual was an old friend of her daughters.  The individual identified himself as 20-year-old Travis Ray Johnson of Inlet Beach.  He had two GPS vehicle mapping systems under the rocking chair he was sitting on.  In addition, he had cell phone charges, a camera, and several other items in his pockets.

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Inlet Beach, FL (April 27, 2010) – A report of a suspicious person in a South Walton County neighborhood leads to an arrest.  At around eleven o’clock Monday night, a homeowner on North Walton Lakeshore Drive [MAP] reported a man came to her house and began to beat on her door.  The homeowner did not open the door, and she observed the individual getting inside her neighbor’s vehicle.

A Walton County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived and began investigating the incident.  The Deputy noticed a man sitting on a nearby home’s front porch.  The homeowner told the Deputy that the individual was an old friend of her daughters.  The individual identified himself as 20-year-old Travis Ray Johnson of Inlet Beach.  He had two GPS vehicle mapping systems under the rocking chair he was sitting on.  In addition, he had cell phone charges, a camera, and several other items in his pockets.

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Inlet Beach, FL (April 27, 2010) – A report of a suspicious person in a South Walton County neighborhood leads to an arrest.  At around eleven o’clock Monday night, a homeowner on North Walton Lakeshore Drive [MAP] reported a man came to her house and began to beat on her door.  The homeowner did not open the door, and she observed the individual getting inside her neighbor’s vehicle.

A Walton County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived and began investigating the incident.  The Deputy noticed a man sitting on a nearby home’s front porch.  The homeowner told the Deputy that the individual was an old friend of her daughters.  The individual identified himself as 20-year-old Travis Ray Johnson of Inlet Beach.  He had two GPS vehicle mapping systems under the rocking chair he was sitting on.  In addition, he had cell phone charges, a camera, and several other items in his pockets.

Release provided by Mike Gurspan, WCSO

Inlet Beach, FL (April 27, 2010) – A report of a suspicious person in a South Walton County neighborhood leads to an arrest.  At around eleven o’clock Monday night, a homeowner on North Walton Lakeshore Drive [MAP] reported a man came to her house and began to beat on her door.  The homeowner did not open the door, and she observed the individual getting inside her neighbor’s vehicle.

A Walton County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived and began investigating the incident.  The Deputy noticed a man sitting on a nearby home’s front porch.  The homeowner told the Deputy that the individual was an old friend of her daughters.  The individual identified himself as 20-year-old Travis Ray Johnson of Inlet Beach.  He had two GPS vehicle mapping systems under the rocking chair he was sitting on.  In addition, he had cell phone charges, a camera, and several other items in his pockets.

From the South Walton Police Blotter - South Walton Burglary Suspect Arrested

At around 10:15AM this morning, a caretaker discovered a person hiding inside a bedroom closet of a home on Dog Hobble Lane in the Point Washington community located between CR 395 and 283 in Santa Rosa Beach, north of Hwy 98.  The caretaker immediately left the residence and called the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspect left through a window of the home, and took off on foot.  He was described as a white male being around five-foot-nine inches tall.  He was wearing a white t-shirt and white pants. He also had on a black baseball cap.

Shortly after noon, the Walton County Sheriff’s Helicopter (Air One) spotted the suspect rowing a kayak in the Intracoastal Waterway near Walton County Road 395.  Sheriff’s Office Pilot, Deputy Scott Thompson, directed ground crews to the exact location, and the suspect was subsequently arrested without incident as he got onto a residential boat dock.

The suspect is a 15-year-old juvenile who lives in the area.   The teenage boy has been transported to the South Walton Sheriff’s Sub-Station.

From the South Walton Police Blotter - South Walton county woman pleads "No Contest" in Real Estate Fraud case

A South Walton county woman pled “no contest” in Circuit Court last week on charges of operating a property management firm without a license.  In July 2009, 43-year old Miramar Beach resident Connie Jo Hludzik was hired to rent and maintain a condominium owned by an unnamed couple.  Hludzik advised the victims that she ran a company called “CJ’s Cleaning and Property Management, LLC".

Two checks totaling $1,746.00 made to the owners of the condominium, purportedly income from new renters of the unit, failed to clear the bank.  A Walton County Sheriff’s Office Investigator contacted the Florida Division of Real Estate which revealed that Hludzik did not hold a state Real Estate License.  

A South Walton county woman pled “no contest” in Circuit Court last week on charges of operating a property management firm without a license.  In July 2009, 43-year old Miramar Beach resident Connie Jo Hludzik was hired to rent and maintain a condominium owned by an unnamed couple.  Hludzik advised the victims that she ran a company called “CJ’s Cleaning and Property Management, LLC".

Two checks totaling $1,746.00 made to the owners of the condominium, purportedly income from new renters of the unit, failed to clear the bank.  A Walton County Sheriff’s Office Investigator contacted the Florida Division of Real Estate which revealed that Hludzik did not hold a state Real Estate License.  

From the WCSO - Fatal Plane Crash in South Walton [March 6, 2010]

*UPDATES BELOW*

Federal Aviation Administration personnel from Birmingham, Alabama are arriving in South Walton County to take over the crash investigation of a single-engine aircraft which went down in the Gulf of Mexico at 12:36 this afternoon.

The World War Two era AT6-Texan crashed about a mile offshore from Topsail Hill Preserve State Park off South Walton County.  The plane would then sink.  The Walton County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by numerous local, state, and federal agencies: the U.S. Coast Guard; the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission; Walton Fire-Rescue; the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Dive team.

Late this afternoon, divers were able to locate the aircraft with its two occupants inside.  The male pilot and his female passenger were pronounced dead at the scene and their bodies sent to the First Judicial Circuit Medical Examiners office in Fort Walton Beach for an autopsy.  The release of the victims’ names is pending notification of family. 

The FAA will coordinate efforts to retrieve the plane from the Gulf of Mexico, and will conduct its investigation into the cause of the tragedy.

Related Links:

• March 7, 2010: Second victim in plane crash believed to be pilot's wife
• March 7, 2010: Surgeon, passenger killed in plane crash off Topsail Hill
• Two die after stunt plane crashes into gulf off Topsail Hill beach (PHOTO GALLERY)

From the South Walton Police Blotter - Two Miramar Beach Burglary Suspects Arrested [February 4, 2010]

Walton County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested two Niceville men caught in the act of burglarizing a residence in Miramar Beach.  At around 10:30PM on February 3, 2010, an alert resident on Bayshore Drive noticed two men with gray-hooded sweatshirts and jeans behind an unoccupied home and called the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.  The resident said that the owners of the house live out-of-state, and no one was supposed to be there.

Within minutes, two Sheriff’s Deputies arrived on the scene to find a side door open at the residence.  Two men, later identified as 20-year-old Brandon Corbitt and 21-year-old Christopher Sylvester, came out to the living room.  They were handcuffed and led outside the home.

Sylvester told authorities that they used a screwdriver to force their way into the residence.  Deputies discovered the television wires had been removed which were connected to a VCR and DVD player sitting next to the TV.

Corbitt and Sylvester have been booked into the Walton County Jail on the charge of Burglary of an Unoccupied Structure.  Additional charges are expected.  The two Okaloosa County men will make their first appearance before a Walton County Judge Friday morning.

From the WCSO - "Night Vision" Added to WCSO Helicopter, Air One

The Walton County Sheriff’s Office Helicopter (Air One) is equipped now with the state-of-the-art night vision system.   The FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) camera is less than forty-pounds and mounted on the bottom of the aircraft.

This week Chris Clark with FLIR Systems based in Boston, Massachusetts has been working with Walton County Sheriff’s Office pilots Scott Thompson and April Hantzis.  With military backgrounds, both Deputies’ Thompson and Hantzis are familiar with night vision technology.  Clark points out the latest advances in using the hand-held computer device, which resembles a video game to control the camera angle.

FLIR works by latching on to thermal energy released by a person, or vehicle on the ground.  The system has proven to be a tremendous asset during search and rescue operations during the day, or at night.  It’s also used to locate a criminal suspect from the sky.

From the South Walton Police Blotter - Morning Manhunt In South Walton county, Florida [January 28, 2010]

An alert homeowner on Garden Bay Court in Miramar Beach observed a person attempting to break into vehicles around three o’clock this morning.  The homeowner contacted the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, and responding Sheriff’s Deputies quickly set up a perimeter of the area.  A Deputy arrested Payton Fitzgerald after he climbed over the privacy fence on Walton Way. The 19-year-old faces a charge of loitering or prowling.

A few hours later Sheriff’s Deputies arrested an accomplice.  Twenty-two-year-old Dane Patrick Hanlon Kemper was driving a BMW 528I automobile when he was stopped at the intersection of Shore Drive and Hidden lakes Drive.  Walton County Sheriff’s Investigators found tools inside the car, which are commonly used in vehicle break-ins’.  Kemper was transported to the Walton County Jail and faces driving with a suspended license first offense.

Over the next several hours, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office assisted by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputies and the Walton Correctional Institution K-9 tracking team searched for a third suspect.  However, it was later determined that Fitzgerald and Kemper were the only two suspects involved.