School Resource Officers with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Youth Service Division conducted a county-wide sex offender/predator verification operation on Friday.

Dubbed “Operation Verification," it focused on identifying and confirming addresses of all sex offender/ predators in Okaloosa County.

Approximately 343 individuals.

The SROs were tasked with not only the address verification process, but also with any criminal investigation or arrest relating to violations of Florida Statute.

The SROs were divided into two shifts: a morning shift and afternoon/night shift. Both shifts were divided into separate squads with an assigned team leader. These squads were then assigned to the different geographical areas within the county.

The morning squads started as early as 4:15 a.m., with the evening squads finishing at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Approximately 260 offenders/ predators were successfully verified and four arrests were made.

The arrests included outdated addresses on driver’s licenses/identification cards and failure to secure a driver’s license/identification card.

Several potential investigations are also pending.

CRESTVIEW — Police are investigating a death after a senior citizen's body was discovered this morning in a vehicle in the Crestview Corners parking lot.

The male, identified as Freddrick Chamberlain, had been reported missing by his family on the evening of Dec. 22, according to a Crestview Police Department news release.

Based on preliminary investigation, it appears Chamberlain died of natural causes.

CRESTVIEW — Police arrested Lee Vern Cook on several charges after a Wednesday incident at North Okaloosa Medical Center.

Cook admitted to bringing “crack cocaine” into NOMC's ICU unit so that he and a patient could smoke the drug together, according to a media release.

A fire broke out while a patient was attempting to smoke the cocaine from a homemade device, according to police, who said the patient was on oxygen, which caused the fire to start quickly.

The only property damage was contained to the bed linen and the gown the patient was wearing along with the oxygen mask, police said.

The patient was transported to a burn unit as a result of the burns he received, according to the release. There was no evacuation of patents or staff from the ICU area.

Cook also admitted to bringing a loaded firearm into the hospital and led officers to the location where he had left it in a bathroom after the fire, according to police.

He was charged with possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, arson, possession of a controlled substance (5 counts) possession of drug paraphernalia, with the possibility of additional charges and was transported to the Okaloosa County Jail.

Crestview's police and fire departments and the State Fire Marshal's Office are investigating the incident.

CRESTVIEW — A Crestview woman is accused of threatening a woman with a knife.

When Crestview Police officers arrived to the home on Dec. 12, 22-year-old Christie Magwood Gregory said two men had been in an argument when she left her room with a Cutco knife in her pocket, according to the arrest report.

She said her hand was on the knife, but she never brandished it, the report said. The victim said that as the two men were arguing, Gregory came into the room with her hand on the knife in her pocket.

When the victim asked Gregory what she was doing with the knife, Gregory said she was going to stab one of them and then “kill” the victim, according to the report.

Gregory is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Her next scheduled court date is Jan. 27.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office provided the following crime reports for publication:

Okaloosa

Dec. 16

●Dallas Anthony Dodd, 22, Crestview: battery.

●Casey Leon Hartley, 23, Crestview: petit larceny.

Dec. 18

●Timothy Joe Alford, 37, Laurel Hill: out-of-county warrant.

●Anastasia Marie Anderson, 21, Crestview: out-of-county warrant.

●Tracy Lynn Goodwin, 47, Milton: out-of-county warrant.

●Leslie Ian Johnson, 31, Niceville: out-of-county warrant.

●Raine Webb Roberts, 47, Gulf Breeze: out-of-county warrant.

●Robert Earl Triplett, 44, Holt: controlled substance possession without a prescription and marijuana possession.

Dec. 19

●Jackie Cortez Cooper, 53, Crestview: failure to register as sex offender.

Dec. 20

●Harrison Blake Carpenter, 28, Crestview: out-of-county warrant.

●Jeffery David Horn, 56, Crestview: battery.

Dec. 22

●Bradley Paul Giese, 19, Crestview: drug equipment possession or use.

●Jeremiah Perales Heckman, 18, Baker: marijuana possession and drug equipment possession or use.

●Ronald Dean Rush, 55, Crestview: battery.

●Tammy Rochelle Thruston, 49, Baker: out-of-county warrant.

SHALIMAR — Registration is available for the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Citizens Academy.

Classes are scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Tuesdays, from Jan. 6 through March 31, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church's Fellowship Hall, 1 Meigs Drive, Shalimar.

The academy covers the sexual predator and gang unit, criminal and crime scene investigation, and narcotics enforcement; traffic, the teen driver challenge and driving under the influence; domestic violence and sex crimes; a ride-along with deputies; a tour of the courthouse and communications center; and a visit to the OCSO firing range. 

Call the OCSO's Crime Prevention Unit, 651-7410, for more information.

CRESTVIEW — A woman recently released from the Okaloosa County Jail has died from open heart surgery complications.

Jail Capt. Stefan Vaughn said 37-year-old Crestview resident Megan Lively wasn't an inmate when she died, as her Facebook page states, Dec. 12.

Lively was arrested in September and charged with committing her third petty theft, which made the crime a felony, Vaughn said. New charges were filed Oct. 6, while she was still in custody.

The wife and mother of three was being held on no bond for probation violation.

Lively pleaded not guilty in November and was scheduled to go to trial Jan. 12, according to court records. However, she was released Dec. 11 to get medical care, Vaughn said.

The Crestview Police Department and Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office provided the following crime reports for publication:

Crestview

Dec. 18

●Patrick J. Dorce, 46, Crestview: fraud - uttering a false check, two counts of petit theft, unarmed auto burglary and check forgery.

Dec. 20

●Sarah Johanna Mount, 40, Crestview: retail theft.

Dec. 22

●Brianna Michelle Cumbie, 24, Crestview: retail larceny, resisting a merchant and battery.

●Michael Cumbie, 59, Crestview: battery.

Dec. 25

●Heather N. Hume, 22, unlisted address: battery.

Dec. 27

Michael Ray Fountain, 53, Crestview: assault.

Dec. 28

●Sherise La Bashia Hennessy, 21, Crestview: probation violation.

Dec. 29

●Allen Dewayne Davis, 42, Crestview: criminal mischief and trespassing in a structure or conveyance.

●Christopher David Hagen, 33, unlisted address: retail theft.

Dec. 31

●Lawrence W. Dumas Jr., 23, Crestview: controlled substance possession, marijuana possession and probation violation.

●Chazz Sanchez, 21, Crestview: larceny totaling $300 to $5,000; dealing in stolen property, and fraud-false ownership of pawned items, less than $300.

Okaloosa

Dec. 26

●Anthony Joseph Davis, 47, unlisted address: out-of-county warrant.

●Danelle Rae Johnston, 26, Crestview: battery.

●Geowane Valdemar Sabio, 30, Crestview: child abuse without great bodily harm.

●Daniel Womack, 31, Fort Walton Beach: out-of-county warrant.

Dec. 28

●Natosha Danielle McComas, 30, Crestview: driving with suspended or revoked license and drug equipment possession or use.

●Richard Allen Potter, 27, Crestview: cocaine possession with with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, marijuana distribution and destroying or tampering with physical evidence.

Dec. 29

●Christopher Allen-Michael Boughnou, 22, Niceville: marijuana possession.

●Anthony Joseph Davis, 47, unlisted address: out-of-county warrant.

Dec. 30

●Natosha Danielle McComas, 30, Crestview: heroin possession with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and drug equipment possession or use.

●James Marcus Owens, 31, Laurel Hill: aggravated assault.

●Nicole Cheri Parker, 30, Crestview: battery.

●Tommy Junior Vinson, 61, unlisted address: battery.

Dec. 31

●Catherine Liegh Jenks, 36, Laurel Hill: out-of-county warrant.

Jan. 1

●Kippin Gerard Tillman, 40, Baker: battery by strangulation.

BAKER — Wallace Timothy Lowe, a sexual predator, has registered a new address of 5194 Ray St., Baker, with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

A 54-year-old white male with green eyes and brown hair, he weighs 180 pounds and is 6 feet tall.

Lowe  was convicted in 2004 in Okaloosa County of lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, and sexual battery on a victim younger than 12.

CRESTVIEW — Police arrested Lukas Lynwood Lambert-Albright, 23, of Crestview, after being stopped for operating a vehicle with an expired tag at Malone Drive and South Ferdon Boulevard.

During the traffic stop, it was determined that Lambert-Albright was also driving on a suspended driver’s license, and had an outstanding warrant, according to the Crestview Police Department.

During the stop, officers noticed suspicious items in the vehicle, which were later determined to be the remnants of a methamphetamine laboratory, according to police.

The Crestview Police Department’s Methamphetamine Laboratory Response Team responded to the scene and dismantled the remnants of the laboratory and rendered the volatile chemicals safe.

Lambert-Albright was arrested and charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of a concealed weapon and driving on a suspended drivers license, in addition to the outstanding warrant for failure to appear for larcent.

Lambert-Albright was transported and released into the custody of the Okaloosa County Jail.

CRESTVIEW — The Florida State Fire Marshal Office is investigating a Jan. 6 residential fire at 392 E. Field Avenue. The Crestview Fire Department responded to the fire call at  8:06 a.m.

According to the CFD press release, the fire's cause was arson, and the Florida State Fire Marshal's office is currently investigating.

Property damage was estimated at $75,000 and one injury was reported.

CRESTVIEW — Thomas Anthony Bonifay, of Baker, has been sentenced to 15 years in state prison after he pled to the charge of trafficking in methamphetamine.

The charges resulted after the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office stopped him in traffic for an improper vehicle tag on May 22 in Milligan.

While searching the vehicle, sheriff's deputies found a bottle that contained approximately 560 grams of methamphetamine oil. Bonifay admitted he was involved in methamphetamine production, according to the office of William Eddins, State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit.

Bonifay must serve the entire 15-year sentence with no early release. A mandatory $250,000 fine was also imposed as a condition of the sentence.

CRESTVIEW — A fatal crash on U.S. Highway 90 at the Shoal River Bridge shut down all through traffic for several hours Tuesday night.

Matthew Brown, 35, of Crestview was driving west on U.S. 90 on Tuesday around 5:30 p.m. in a 2007 Ford F150 when he crossed the center line, according to a media release from Florida Highway Patrol.

He struck Janet Jackson, 52, of Crestview, who was driving east in a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado, the release said.

The two vehicles came to rest with their fronts still connected. Both drivers were killed in the crash, according to the release.

A 9-year-old passenger, Dennis Jackson, of Crestview, was flown to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola in critical condition.

Although the Florida Highway Patrol had originally reported that none of the three were wearing seatbelts, they sent out a corrected release Wednesday morning indicating that Dennis was restrained.

FHP is investigating the crash.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

CRESTVIEW — A fatal crash on U.S. Highway 90 at the Shoal River Bridge shut down all through traffic for several hours Tuesday night.

The crash occurred about 5:30 p.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

As of 9:15 p.m., both lanes of traffic still were closed and FHP troopers and firefighters still were at the scene.

Scanner traffic indicated that at least one person,possibly two, were killed in the crash.

A pediatric trauma alert was called out over the scanner, indicating that a child had been taken from the scene.

Readers reported on social media that a helicopter landed and took someone from the scene.

No information had been released as of 9:15 p.m. regarding the vehicles involved or how the crash occurred.

The FHP is investigating the wreck. North Okaloosa firefighters assisted at the scene.

Janet Jackson was remembered Wednesday as "charismatic" and "bold and larger than life."

She was a woman who loved hunting, fishing and her family.

Janet, who was 52, died Tuesday night in a crash on the Shoal River Bridge. Her grandson, 9-year-old Dennis, was critically injured.

The little boy, a student at Paxton School, remained in critical condition Wednesday evening at Sacred Heart Hospital, where he was flown after the accident.

“Her grandson was her world,” said Jennifer Williams, who worked with Janet at a call center in Crestview. “We heard lots of stories about him.

“She was the backbone of her family.”

The other driver, 35-year-old Matthew Brown of Crestview died at the scene. Brown’s truck crossed the center line on the bridge, striking Jackson’s head-on, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, which is investigating the accident.

More than 30 of Janet’s coworkers and friends gathered at the bridge Wednesday, trickling in around 4 p.m., to set up a memorial in her memory.

For more photos from the memorial, click here.

They left roses, sunflowers, tulips, photos and other items and cried as they held each other and shared memories.

“Janet was an advocate for anyone she’d ever met,” Ariel Bryant said. “She was a mentor.”

She said that everyone spent time Wednesday mourning a woman noted for her spunk and style.

“Camouflage and high heels, that’s Janet,” Robin Gamble said with a laugh.

“I always loved that Janet was the only one who could pull off that high top fluff," Bryant added, gesturing to her hair.

The accident happened about 5:30 p.m. in an area where signs warn that the road narrows going into the bridge.

Emergency responders were on scene for nearly three hours, clearing the wreckage.

“The amount of damage that was done to both these full-size pickup trucks was shocking,” said North Okaloosa Fire District Deputy Chief Danny Warrols.

He noted that trying to separate the vehicles was an impossible task, and after multiple failed attempts, wreckers towed the connected vehicles.

Although the initial FHP report indicated that none of the individuals was wearing a seatbelt, a corrected version sent out Wednesday morning noted that Dennis was belted in. 

By Wednesday afternoon, the only sign of the wreck was the memorial created by Janet’s friends and coworkers.

On the side of the road in the cold wind and failing light, they remembered Janet’s generosity, from the deer jerky she would bring to work to the egg rolls she made.

Williams said Janet was there for everyone, whether she was their direct supervisor or not.

“Hopefully, as people pass, they’ll take note that there was a really important person who died here.”

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Trista Pruett at 850-315-4445 or tpruett@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @TristaPnwfdn. Contact Daily News Managing Editor Wendy Victora at 850-315-4478 or wvictora@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @WendyVnwfdn.

PAXTON — Today Dennis Jackson’s 18 classmates will sit down and write the adjectives they associate with him. 

The third graders at Paxton School can’t stop asking about him after learning he was involved in a car accident Tuesday evening, according to their teacher Lora Brazile.

“He has a lot of friends,” she said. “Everybody’s very upset.”

As of Thursday evening, Dennis was still in critical condition at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, according to hospital spokesman Mike Burke.

His grandmother, Janet Jackson, was killed in the wreck along with the driver of the other vehicle, Matthew Brown.

The small, but extremely friendly 9-year-old is always ready to lend a hand and his peers say he’s funny.

On the first day of school this year, Brazile had written the name “D.J.” on his seat and other items in the classroom at the request of his family. He immediately informed her he preferred to be called Dennis.

“He knew what he wanted and he didn’t mind verbalizing it,” she recalled with a laugh.

During class today, the students will sit down to write cards for him and then create a banner as well.

On the banner they plan to draw a likeness of him and then write adjectives to describe him on it. During a brainstorming session on Thursday, they came back to one word.

“One of the words they described him as was brave,” she said.

Other classes at the school also planned to make cards, Brazile added.

“He’s going to have plenty to do when he gets to read everything,” she said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.

CRESTVIEW — Is Crestview a hotbed of crime or was data misinterpreted?

The city ranks 180th on ValuePenguin's 2014 Safest Cities in Florida Study. Valparaiso and Niceville ranked No. 10 and No. 15, respectively; and Fort Walton Beach, No. 86.

In 2012, the last year for which data was available, Crestview had 186 violent crimes and 38 robberies, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics.

But Crestview officials said the report does not consider variables that can skew the results.

“Even on the FBI’s site it clearly states these numbers aren’t intended for the media,” Crestview Police spokesman Lt. Don Fountain said. “The numbers can be skewed based on population and other factors.”

The data “provide no insight into the many variables that mold the crime in a particular town, city, county, state, region, or other jurisdiction,” the FBI's website states. “Consequently, these rankings lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting cities and counties, along with their residents.”

2012, the last year covered by the report, was a time of turmoil in the Crestview Police Department; a period of low morale resulting from allegations against senior police leadership, local officials said.

Until Chief Tony Taylor's arrival at the end of 2012, the police department was understaffed, Mayor David Cadle stated in a media release.

“This doesn’t tell the whole story,” Cadle’s release stated. “In 2013, Chief Taylor’s first year in office, violent crime decreased 12.2 percent and overall crime decreased 13.1 percent, which is the last full year data are available. For the first six months of 2014, violent crime was down an additional 6 percent.”

“The statistics from this point forward will be as accurate as we can make them,” Taylor said. “Even if you take the statistics as written, we have a downward trend of the crime rate in Crestview.”

Still, critics such as Councilman Tom Gordon, a candidate in the March mayoral election, said the data, even if raw, could make families and businesses reconsider relocating to Crestview.

“Crestview had 180 violent crimes in 2013,” Gordon said. “Look at Fort Walton, Niceville, Shalimar and Valparaiso and they had a combined count of 80. 

“So although their combined population is 75 percent bigger than Crestview, the crime rate of all four of those cities is less than half.”

With the police force at nearly full strength again and morale high, the numbers continue to improve, Taylor said.

“Crestview is a safe community to live in," he said. "You’re going to find different ratings on different sites. The sky is not falling. It’s a great place to live and a great place to raise your kids.”

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office charged a Crestview man with aggravated assault and child abuse.

Deputies arrested Adolfo Roura III, 30, on Wednesday on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm and child abuse.

Witnesses said he pointed what turned out to be a realistic-looking Airsoft gun at two Antioch Elementary school children.

A call for an armed disturbance came in around 4 p.m. Wednesday from a bus driver who was dropping off students at a stop on Jenkins Road and Regan Drive.

The driver said a man drove up and pointed a gun at an 8-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy who had just gotten off the bus.

The girl said she heard two “pop” noises and believed the man was shooting at her so she ran back to the bus. She told deputies she was scared and could not stop shaking.

The 9-year-old boy also said he heard what he thought were gun shots as he was running away. He was located, safe, at his home.

The bus driver said the man picked up two other students and drove away.

Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies tracked the individual to the front porch of a home on Jenkins Drive, where they found him in possession of a Ruger P345 Airsoft gun.

Roura denied pointing the gun at the children and said he was shooting at cans in the wood line, according to an arrest report.

Deputies say they did not observe any cans inside the wood line in that location.

LAUREL HILL — A man will be in court Feb. 17 on the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.

Deputies responded to a Laurel Hill residence late Dec. 30 after a 31-year-old man allegedly attacked his uncle over his belief that his wife had cheated on him with his cousin.

Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the residence around 9:30 p.m. by James Marcus Owens’ mother, according to the arrest report.

She reported that Owens and his uncle were in a verbal argument about “possible infidelity” between Owens’ wife and cousin.

He told his mother that he was “going to confront and beat up his cousin,” the report said.

Owens then went to the barn where his uncle was residing and “attempted to attack him with a 2X4 piece of lumber,” swinging the wood at his uncle “several times.”

CRESTVIEW — Even caller ID is vulnerable to scammers these days.

A recurring ploy involves someone calling locals to say there’s a warrant for their arrest and they must pay money or a deputy will take them into custody.

But now, scammers are taking the ploy one step further, spoofing a phone number directly associated with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

A Shalimar resident said while at work earlier this month she got a phone message indicating the call was coming from phone number 651-7400 — an actual OCSO dispatch number.

The voice message indicated the Sheriff’s Office was calling because it has a warrant for her arrest. It gave a return phone number with a 678 area code.

When the local resident called back, a woman on the other end identified herself as an attorney with “Attorney Network." The woman said there was a warrant for  arrest in reference to loans at various banks.

The recipient of the call, however, said she had not taken out any loans in recent years. She recognized it was a scam and did not give out any personal information.

Instead, she reported the ploy to the Sheriff’s Office.

The OCSO is investigating this latest scam. 

CRESTVIEW — Victor Todd Lundy has been sentenced to seven years in prison after he pleaded to a charge of trafficking in methamphetamine.

Lundy was arrested Nov. 29, 2013 at his home in Crestview when Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant and found 28 grams of meth and equipment to manufacture it, according to the State Attorney’s office.

Okaloosa County Circuit Judge Michael Flowers also has ordered Lundy to pay a $100,000 fine.

John Wesley Myers of Holt was also sentenced to seven years in state prison after he pleaded no contest to the charge of trafficking in methamphetamine (over 14 grams), according to William Eddins, State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit.

The charges arose after Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputies answered a call about an active methamphetamine lab in the garage at the defendant’s residence. 

The defendant admitted to manufacturing methamphetamine at that time, according to the state attorney's office. Deputies said they discovered various items used in methamphetamine production and several containers, which held about 82 grams of methamphetamine.

Myers must serve the entire sentence with no early release. A mandatory $100,000 fine was also imposed as a condition of the sentence.