Police catch man wanted in 2-week crime spree, including local arson
Published 9:32 pm Monday, October 24, 2016
A Crestview man is behind bars and is facing charges in multiple counties and two states, including locally.
Covington County Sheriff Dennis Meeks said Monday afternoon that Jon Michael White was finally picked up by Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputies after a 2.5-week crime spree that includes burglaries as well as a potential arson charge in Covington County. His spree also included crimes in Geneva and Okaloosa counties.
“He went on a rampage,” Meeks said. “Late Friday afternoon, he burglarized a home on Glen Chambers Road and then set the place on fire.”
White was considered armed and dangerous and was wanted in connection with multiple felonies in multiple jurisdictions.
OSCO deputies were on the trail of White, 31, beginning around 6:30 p.m., Sunday, according to the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office.
They were searching for White, who was wanted for questioning in connection with the arson investigation in Covington County, as well as multiple are residential burglaries.
Deputies learned that White was dropped off at the Niceville Walmart around 7 p.m., Sunday.
They located him inside the store, but White, who weighs approximately 250 pounds, charged one of the deputies and struck him in the shoulder before running out of an emergency exit and into the woods.
Officials say White then lit a fire in the woods in an attempt to evade arrest.
The Niceville Fire Department extinguished the fire.
Law enforcement officials then set up a perimeter and called a K9 unit to track White.
The Niceville Police Department, in the meantime, received calls of a man matching White’s description trying to open car doors in the Swift Creek neighborhood.
He was located a few hours later in a car stopped by OCSO deputies on John Sims Parkway for an expired tag.
He was booked into the Okaloosa County Jail.
The OSCO has charged White with resisting arrest with violence, resident arrest without violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer.
He is a suspect in a burglary in Destin on Oct. 16 and other break-ins regionally.
The CCSO has placed a hold on White, while they continue their investigation.
The Star-News will update this story when more information becomes available.