News Archive

The City of Crestview Police Department has created new “grassroots” health programs to address specific needs in the community. During a recent Crestview City Council meeting, Police Chief Stephen McCosker and community service officer Kristen Peters shared a presentation going over three new in-house programs developed by the Crestview Police Department.

The Okaloosa County School District has purchased 80 acres in Crestview with plans to build two new schools in the city. “It’s really exciting to announce that Crestview will be getting a new K-8 school, and we hope to have it built by the time we start the 2026 school year,” said Okaloosa County School Board member Tim Bryant at last week’s Crestview Area Chamber breakfast.

A Fort Walton Beach teenager is facing multiple felony charges after being involved in a head-on collision the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 7. Darren Rose, 19, was arrested Feb. 7 on third degree felony charges of resisting an officer with violence, DUI with serious bodily injury and possession of a synthetic cannabinoid.

The state of Florida will seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing Ray Hamilton, a corporal with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, on Christmas Eve. Ginger Bowden Madden, State Attorney for the 1st Judicial Circuit in and for Okaloosa County, filed a notice Monday that her office will seek the death penalty for Timothy Price-Williams II, 43. He is charged with committing first-degree murder for the death of Hamilton.

A Crestview man is facing multiple felony drug charges after being serving a narcotics search warrant earlier this month. Tremayne Drake, 35, of Crestview, is charged with trafficking in fentanyl, trafficking in methamphetamine, trafficking in oxycodone, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, trafficking in phenethylamines, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, felony violation of probation, and possession of marijuana in excess of 20 grams.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Crestview man following the execution of a narcotics search warrant at a residence on Wingard Street in Crestview. Timothy Holt, 49, of Crestview, was charged with trafficking in methamphetamines after investigators with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Drug Task Force found Holt to be in possession of over one kilogram of crystal methamphetamine.

The Florida Bar, which regulates the practice of law in Florida, announced that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined five attorneys, suspending four and reprimanding one. One of these attorneys practices law in Crestview.

Okaloosa Schools Superintendent Marcus Chambers has filed to run for reelection in 2024. During his first term, Chambers led the school district through the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining the district’s top “A” rating.

The City of Crestview is working on renovating and restoring a building on Main Street that originally housed the Post Office. The city purchased the old Post Office building on Main Street in September 2022, with renovations beginning in November with Richard Rausch, contractor and owner of Triple R Construction, overseeing the work.

A mobile home in Baker was destroyed in a fire the morning of Jan. 26.

The fire started at a mobile home on Roosevelt Avenue in Baker at approximately 9:40 a.m. Baker Fire Department, Holt Fire District, Crestview Fire Department Battalion 1, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and Okaloosa EMS all responded to the call were on the scene assisting with putting out the fire and aiding the residents. The fire was extinguished by 10:40 a.m.