News Update, May 16

FORT WALTON BEACH — A man was "agitated and belligerent" early Tuesday in a Waffle House after he flooded a restroom with syringes, cocaine and condoms in his pockets, lawmen say.

Jonathan Edward Berry, 31, of Jeff Street in Crestview, is charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

Management at the Waffle House on Racetrack Road said he had been in the men's restroom "for an extended period of time" and flooded the toilet, then returned to his booth and acted belligerent toward staff and other customers, according to his arrest report.

A deputy responded. He found a syringe without a safety cover on it and the yellow lid to a lemon juice bottle in one pocket with white powdery residue. It tested positive for cocaine.

In another pocket, he found another syringe and numerous condoms.

Berry was arrested at about 1:15 a.m., according to the report.

Boat chained to tree, motor disappears

LAUREL HILL -- A boat for sale in Laurel Hill was chained to a tree, but that didn’t stop someone from taking the motor that was attached to it.

The owner called the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office May 12 to report that the motor had disappeared sometime the day before.

He said that several people had stopped by to inquire about the boat, but only one had asked to purchase just the engine. The deputy went to that individual’s house and looked around, but didn’t see a boat motor.

The case is inactive.

Woman accused of prostitution

The Crestview Police Department Street Crimes Unit arrested a woman for prostitu-tion during an undercover investigation May 6.

The vehicle an undercover officer was riding in was fitted with an electronic monitoring device and traveling in the area of Martin Luther King Avenue and South Booker Street.

The officer was approached by a female and he asked her what she was doing. She replied, “Working.”

She got in the officer’s car, according to her arrest report, and the officer asked, “How much?”

The woman, 27, said she wanted “crack,” but when the officer told her he only had money she said she wanted $20 in exchange for sex.

The woman was arrested for solicitation of prostitution.

Business owner busted for burning trash

CRESTVIEW — A 79-year-old man was charged earlier this month with two misdemeanor counts for violating environment protection laws, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

One charge is for allegedly causing airborne pollution that could be harmful to people, animals, plants or aquatic life. The other charge accuses him of illegally burning solid waste, in this case plastic-coated wires and metal automobile engine components.

“This negligent practice is often performed by individuals in an attempt to speed the process of wire stripping … when recycling for monetary gain to increase the value of return on the materials,” stated a sheriff’s offense report.

The deputy saw the suspect monitoring three small fires at a recycling and salvage yard in the 600 block of Hill Avenue on May 1. The yard is located in a residential area.

Five gallon buckets of water weren’t enough to extinguish the junk fires, so the Crestview Fire Department was called.

The suspect was issued a notice to appear in court.