NICEVILLE - Niceville Police officers were called for a number of stolen items, including a bicycle and a math book.

A woman called police on May 7 around 10 a.m. to report a vehicle burglary, according to the incident report. She said around 7 a.m., she had noticed that her son’s bicycle was missing from the driveway.

After checking other areas for the bicycle, she noticed that her back was missing from the backseat of her pickup, the report said. The bag contained a college math book, a graphing calculator and random school supplies.

Altogether, the value of the items was $530.

The woman said she wasn’t sure if she had locked the door of the truck, according to the report.

A man called the same day around 2 p.m. to report that an adult bicycle with a rack on the back seat had been stolen from his residence, the report said.

NICEVILLE - A citizen called Niceville Police officers on May 7 around 5:45 p.m. to report being hit by a vehicle while skateboarding.

The caller said she was uninjured and officers responded to a church where she was standing, waiting for them, according to the call log. she described the vehicle as a black passenger car and said it had left the area.

Officers investigated a vehicle in connection with the incident, the log said. They took the caller to drop her off at a friend’s home.

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer — three days of barbeques, beach parties, and honoring military local and beyond. Kind of sounds like a typical day in Northwest Florida.

In anticipation of the holiday, here are a few ways to prepare.

Winning weather
 Weather forecasts throughout the weekend show highs between 84 and 87 degrees. Friday and Saturday are set to be mostly sunny days. Carry an umbrella with you Monday as scattered thunderstorms are predicted to dampen the holiday fun. As for the water conditions, look forward to temperatures around 80 degrees and swells up to 3-plus feet Sunday and Monday. Keep up with the weather forecast all weekend right here.

Head to the stores early
From filling the cooler with beer to stocking the fridge with fixins, you'll most likely be making a trip or two to the grocery store. Just don't wait until the last minute or you'll have to use sliced bread instead of buns for your hot dogs and hamburgers.

Let the flags fly
Whether you’re temporarily claiming your territory at the beach or hosting a backyard get together, don’t forget to plant your flags in the ground. Choose from your favorite sports teams, summer themes, colorful rainbows, but make sure to include an American flag.

Make time for traffic
If you're heading to the beaches east or west, plan to be stuck in traffic and circling parking lots for a space. With the nice weather and time off, it’s likely everyone is going to have the same idea as you. It's also a good idea to make sure the gas tank is full so you're not sitting on the side of the road. A good alternative is bribing a friend with a pool to invite you over.

Pay proper respect
Memorial Day is more than mattress sales and plates of potato salad. When you’re out enjoying the day with friends and family, take a moment to reflect on why you have this day off. You can also plan to attend one of the Memorial Day events in the area to show your respect for military service men and women.

— Jennie McKeon

FORT WALTON BEACH — Liza Jackson Preparatory School and Emerald Coast Fitness Foundation have proposed different uses for the old YMCA building on Hospital Road, but the two nonprofits don’t consider themselves competitors.

Each group has plans to include the other if its bid is accepted by the city.

“We are supporting each other,” said Pam Braseth, treasurer for Emerald Coast Fitness Foundation.

While Emerald Coast Fitness is focused on reviving the facility’s pool and establishing recreational athletic programs, Liza Jackson Preparatory is eyeing the
property for an expanded middle school that would house sixth- through ninth-graders.

“There is potential there,” said Terri Roberts, CEO of the K-8 charter school. “We’ve needed a gym and athletic facilities for our school for a long time.”

If the school’s proposal is accepted, it would contract with Emerald Coast Fitness to operate the pool and aquatic programs. Braseth said the group wants to teach water safety to all county first-graders, offer summer league swimming and other programs.

If the Emerald Coast Fitness proposal is approved, it would partner with the school to operate after-school recreation and child care at the facility.

To locate its middle school on the property, Liza Jackson Preparatory also would need the permission of the Air Force, which originally deeded the land to Fort Walton Beach for recreational purposes.

Roberts said the property would be a huge benefit to the school, which is experiencing major growth.

“We’ve got 1,200 students on a waiting list,” she said. “We definitely have a need.”

Liza Jackson Preparatory has proposed paying the city a lease payment of $1 a month for the first three years until it gets the school up and running. After the school is opened, it would pay $5,000 a month.

Emerald Coast fitness has proposed opening the YMCA building in stages and paying the city $1 a month until the pool reopens. Three months after the pool reopens, it would pay the city $200 a month until the rest of the facility opens. Three months after its full opening, the non profit would start paying $500 a month.

Braseth and Roberts said both proposals depend greatly on community support.

“I’m optimistic,” Braseth said. “I think people have seen life without a pool, and I don’t think they like it.”

 Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari C. Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.

NAVARRE — Hannah Tatom can’t quite shake her disbelief about graduating from high school.

The 18-year-old Navarre High School student never doubted she’d get her diploma, but at times it seemed impossibly far away.

“I’m like, ‘Whoa, this isn’t supposed to be happening,’ ” Hannah said. “Now I wish I wouldn’t have rushed it, and I know, I’ll probably be saying that for the rest of my life.”

She spent her first six years living a nomadic existence with her mother, the next 10 with her father and the last three with her grandparents.

The first time Hannah met her father, she was getting off the school bus. She’d been living with her half-sister’s father without her mother when he came to get her.

Their bond was immediate. She was mostly content living with him for the next decade, enjoying the little luxuries life with her mother hadn’t afforded her.

She did well in school and participated in pageants, but just before her sophomore year, her father decided it would be better for her to live with her grandparents.

Rather than dwell on her emotions, Hannah focused on rooting herself in her new home. She made friends through church and Facebook. She was crowned Junior Miss Navarre her first year at her new school.

“I knew the only thing I could control was my grades,” Hannah said. “My education was the only thing they couldn’t take away from me.”

When she walks across the stage today, Hannah will have 13 scholarships to help pay for the bachelor’s degree she’s pursuing at the University of South Alabama.

She wants to be a nurse. Likely join the Air Force. Definitely see the world.

“I know that this girl, no matter what will happen to her in life, she’ll survive,” her grandfather Kent Tatom said. “She won’t wait for anyone to take care of her.”

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

Niceville residents have heard far too many jokes about their city’s friendly name.

"When I hear the jokes, I’m always very gracious," sighed Angela Cooper, who works at the City of Niceville administration. "We’ve all done it before."

Earlier this month, the "nicest little city in the South" was ranked No. 2 in a list of "15 Towns in Florida with Extremely Strange and Hilarious Names" on the website Only in Your State.

Niceville was named among other interesting towns and cities such as Two Egg, Couch and Dinner Island.

The city of Niceville — originally named Boggy — earned its new name in November 1910.

"Based on local history, it was mostly pirates and rumrunners that came to the area," said Crystal Brown, education coordinator at Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida. "It was not always a very nice place."

The intention of giving the city a "nice" name was a marketing ploy to invite more pleasant guests and visitors to the Boggy Bayou, according to folklore.

"There’s no documentation that I can see that backs it up, but that’s what we’ve know," said Brown. "They were trying to invite a different kind of people."

Brown, who has lived in Niceville since the late 80s, said the city as we know it lives up to its name.

"I do think that it fits," she said. "It’s funny because in high school everybody says that they can’t wait to go somewhere else, but most end up coming back here."

"It is a very nice place."

SEE THE LIST: Visit onlyinyourstate.com/florida/funny-names-fl to see the full list of seemingly silly Florida towns and cities.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Jennie McKeon at 850-315-4432 or jmckeon@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @JennieMnwfdn.

If you think Florida is only known for seafood, think again.

TripAdvisor, an American travel website that provides reviews and travel information, has created a list of top ten barbeque restaurants in the United States. They considered those that have at least 100 reviews and ranked them on the volume and quality of reviews.

According to their website, more weight was given to reviews posted in the past year, and chains with more than 10 locations were not included.

When the ranking was complete, three of the top ten barbeque restaurants were in Florida with #8 being Buck’s Smokehouse in Destin. With 200 reviews, Buck’s has over 150 reviews that rated the restaurant as excellent.

According to owner Mike Buckingham, he and his wife Michele had "no clue" about the ranking until Wednesday when they started getting hundreds of congratulatory emails and texts.

Buckingham said that they owe all of their success to the locals who have supported them.

He had lived in this area since the 1980s, doing barbeque on the side, when he and his wife decided to go "old school" with a restaurant, "like the former Rib Shack that closed in 1995," Mike said.

Their vision was realized one year ago last week with the opening of Buck’s Smokehouse.

Buck’s offers smoked pulled pork, chicken, turkey, beef brisket, sausage and ribs. They also offer smoked fish a few days a week.

The Buckinghams make their sauces; Carolina, Sweet Red and Alabama White Sauce, themselves by closely held recipes. The same is true of the rubs.

WANT TO GO? On May 29, Buck’s Smokehouse is planning to set up a tent in the parking lot, and from 5 to 7 p.m., offer a free sandwich and drink to the locals to thank them for their support. Buck’s Smokehouse is located at 303 Harbor Blvd., Destin. Their hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They are open on Sunday only during Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.

Here are the top 10 BBQ restaurants for 2015, according to TripAdvisor:

1. Joe’s BBQ, Blue Ridge, Ga
2. Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, Kansas City, Kan. 
3. Bogart’s Smokehouse, St. Louis
4. Reuben’s Smokehouse, Fort Myers
5. Andy Nelson’s Southern Pit BBQ, Cockeysville, Md.
6. Captain’s BBQ, Palm Coast
7. HogsHead Café, Richmond, Va.
8. Buck’s Smokehouse — Destin
9. Franklin Barbecue – Austin
10. Pappy’s Smokehouse — St. Louis

FORT WALTON BEACH — Rock stars from across the decades appeared on-stage Friday morning at Silver Sands School.

Silver Sands seniors and a few members of the School to Work class came together to put on the ninth annual American Music Revue play at their school.

The students started with music from the ’50s and moved all the way to modern day with everything from Elvis to Usher.

VIDEO of the Revue.

PHOTOS from the Revue.

“They all love music a lot,” said teacher Beth Wright. “And for a lot of them, it’s their dream to be a rock star.”

Friends and family came out to the event and didn’t miss an opportunity to clap and sing along as the students lip-synched, pretended to play electric guitars, drums and keyboarded and danced through their performances.

“I had four songs I did,” said senior Stephen Knoll. “The best was ‘Livin’ on a Prayer.’ ”

In that performance, Stephen was taking on the role of Bon Jovi’s lead singer, complete with a wig and microphone.

Fellow senior Chase Sparks was equally thrilled when he got to play Michael Jackson performing “Thriller.”

“He’s been very, very excited,” his mom, Pamela Sparks said as they talked about his performance afterwards.

Students started working on the play after Christmas break, Wright said.

Along with the teachers, the students sorted through the various songs they could select and then did the ones that got the most votes.

Friday’s performance was the last major event for seniors at the school before they graduate. That ceremony is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

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

MARY ESTHER — Two people are charged with the May 17 burglary of the Subway restaurant in Mary Esther after being identified through surveillance footage. 

The two, identified as 52-year-old Barry Todd Banfield and 43-year-old Laura Lee Price, were arrested Thursday night on charges of burglary, felony theft and criminal mischief.

Investigators were called for the burglary on May 17. The glass on the front door had been broken out and the safe had been removed from the store, according to the arrest report.

Surveillance footage in the store showed the woman run to the back and then to the register, as if she was familiar with the store, the report said.

She removed the safe, which contained $2,776, and dragged it to the front of the store, where the man picked it up, according to the report.

Video footage from a nearby business showed a vehicle, later found at Price’s residence, parking at 3:50 a.m. and leaving 10 minutes later, the report said.

The two were identified as suspects and, after being arrested, Price admitted to her part, stating she’d been off her medication and using illegal drugs and alcohol, according to the report.

Banfield refused to give a statement without an attorney.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Trista Pruett at 850-315-4445 or tpruett@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @TristaPnwfdn.

FORT WALTON BEACH — A 39-year-old Destin man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of molesting a teenager over an 11 month period.

Eli Long Malave entered the plea to a charge of sexual battery while in a position of authority on a victim over the age of 12 and under 18 as part of a plea and sentencing agreement.

He is scheduled for sentencing on June 16 with Judge William Stone.

Malave sexually molested a 14-year-old girl 30 to 40 times between August 2013 and July 2014, according to the arrest report.

He was also accused of hitting the teen, the report said.

Malave made headlines in October 2014 after being caught in Anchorage, Alaska, as a fugitive from justice on Okaloosa County warrants.

Authorities said then that Malave had fled to Alaska after becoming aware of the warrant for his arrest.

He was extradited and returned to Okaloosa County on Dec. 6, 2014.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Trista Pruett at 850-315-4445 or tpruett@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @TristaPnwfdn.

CRESTVIEW — A local doctor was awarded more than $2 million in damages Thursday as a result of a 2012 defamation suit.

Dr. Michael P. Ederer was awarded $2.145 million by a jury after suing North Okaloosa Medical Center and CEO David Fuller over defamatory statement, according to a release from the Niceville law firm of Powell and Swanick.

Ederer was represented by both the Niceville firm and the Pensacola firm of Clark, Partington, Hart, Larry, Bond and Stackhouse.

“I’m really happy for Dr. Ederer,” said attorney Dave Swanick. “He’s been living with that cloud over his head for three years. It wasn’t true.”

He credited the team of attorneys from both firms, noting that everyone had worked hard on the case.

The damages broken down include $320,000 for loss of earnings, $400,000 for loss of ability to earn money in the future, $400,000 for injury to Ederer’s reputation, $1 million in punitive damages from North Okaloosa Medical Center and $25,000 in punitive damages from hospital CEO David Fuller.

Ederer claimed that in 2011, Fuller and North Okaloosa Medical Center had wrongfully told Anesthesia Healthcare Partners of Florida, Inc., that he was “engaging in disruptive behavior.”

He said the hospital failed to properly investigate the claims and that Fuller knowingly made the false statements.

The hospital declined to comment on the case, stating that it was their practice not to comment on litigation.

Ederer is still seeing patients, but after the accusations, the only hospital that would hire him was in Mobile, where he’d practiced for 25 years.

Now, Swanick said, Ederer can approach hospitals without the accusations following him.

“The jury vindicated him,” Swanick said.

Forecasters say the Emerald Coast can expect a decent Memorial Day weekend weatherwise, but warn increasing winds could raise the likelihood of rip currents along the beach and bring choppy waters to inland waterways.

“We had a cold front that came through the area,” said meteorologist John Purdy at the Mobile office of the National Weather Service, speaking of Friday’s noticeable cooler temperatures.

Don’t get used to that. “It’ll be warming up Saturday,” Purdy said. “Temperatures will climb to 85 to 90 degrees. Saturday will be rain-free.”

The risk Saturday will come from sunburn, Purdy said. “People will need to take precautions” from what he expects will be a high UV index.

High pressure will bring southeast winds to Northwest Florida, and they’ll be increasing to the 15-20 mph range with gusts as high as 25 mph, Purdy said. “It’s going to be pretty breezy over the gulf, bays and inland waterways Saturday through Monday,” he said.

Gusty winds bring an increased risk of rip currents along gulf beaches and rough waters to bays and bayous. “People need to heed the advice of local beach patrols and keep an eye on beach flags,” Purdy said. “Be cautious with children entering the surf. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are water rescues.”

He also warned, “Boaters are going to be encountering very choppy conditions and high seas,” with gulf wave heights possibly reaching 5 feet. “The water and wind are not mixing so well,” he said.

Clouds will be increasing Sunday and the area can expect a chance of scattered pop-up thundershowers. The best chance of rain will come Monday, with continued scattered thundershowers.

Contact Daily News Online Editor Del Stone Jr. at 850-315-4433 or dstone@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DelSnwfdn.

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS —  Barry Davis believed he could get away with murder.

He had said as much to his girlfriend, Tiffani Steward, some time after he killed John Gregory Hughes and Hiedi Rhodes the night of May 7, 2012, according to her testimony at Davis’ trial.

And while he might have gotten closer to it than most, or was at least able to stave off justice for a while, Davis was found guilty Monday on two counts of first-degree murder, along with 15 other theft-related charges.

A jury recommended Friday that he die for both killings.

“We have waited a long time for this day to come. Barry Davis is an evil person. Hopefully, our families will be able to finally have some closure. I feel that justice has been served,” Susan Hughes, Greg Hughes, first cousin, said after the recommendations were presented.

“Barry Davis has committed a heinous crime and he brutally took away our loved ones,” added Amy Hughes, Greg Hughes’ sister. “Today, we are satisfied with the jury’s recommendation of punishment to the fullest extent of the law.”

After more than a year of investigation, Davis was charged with the murders of Hughes and Rhodes in early 2013. The Walton County Sheriff’s Office alleged he beat and strangled the couple at Hughes’ home in Santa Rosa Beach, then left them face down in a bathtub to drown.

The jury of seven women and five men recommended by a 9-3 vote that Davis be put to death for the murder of Hughes and by a 10-2 count that he die for killing Rhodes, who prosecuting attorney Bobby Elmore had characterized as an innocent killed only because she happened to be present when Davis killed and robbed Hughes.

Circuit Judge Kelvin Wells will impose the sentence after a Spencer Hearing, which is required in all cases in which the death penalty is on the table. Neither the hearing nor the sentencing date was set Friday.

Davis’ confidence that he could walk away from the killings might have stemmed from his successful destruction of a great deal of evidence. Given weeks to cover up his crimes, he cut out blood-stained dry wall at Hughes’ home, removed every stick of furniture from the home, tore out the seats of the Cadillac where he stored his victims’ bodies and, most significantly, coldly and efficiently disposed of Hughes’ and Rhodes’ corpses.

What he didn’t count on was the dogged determination of investigators and prosecutors.

In September 2012 the state failed to win a conviction in a case in which Davis was accused of stealing Hughes’ Corvette and selling it in Orlando for $15,000. Authorities had hoped that with a conviction in hand and Davis in prison, they could get his reluctant associates to come forward and tell them what they knew about his involvement in Hughes’ and Rhodes’ homicides. But Davis’ attorney successfully established the possibility that the missing Hughes could be alive, and perhaps had even orchestrated the car sale from behind the scenes.

Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said investigators doubled down on their efforts after the Corvette theft case to build a case for murder against Davis.

“Literally the whole Walton County Sheriff’s Office worked on the case in one form or another,” prosecutor Bobby Elmore said Friday.

“We felt that he would have been convicted. When he was not, we knew that he was a serious threat to someone’s health and well being,” Adkinson said. “It just worried me that he would kill someone else before we could put the murder case together fully. I just felt like we had to re-double our efforts.”

Elmore got involved following Davis’ February, 2013, arrest for the murders. He said “this case has consumed my life” since then.

“It’s been on my mind when I get up in the morning and when I lay down at night,” he said. “It required that.”

Without bodies, Elmore said he was forced to prove an “absence of life” by providing the jury with evidence that Hughes and Rhodes simply had stopped doing things they did on a regular basis.

”It’s the most fact-intensive case I’ve ever had,” said Elmore, a prosecutor for 35 years.

Elmore said after Friday’s recommendation that he was confident the jurors who convicted Davis “were well satisfied we had proven the deaths.”

The families of Rhodes and Hughes praised the efforts of police and prosecutors.

“The family of Hiedi Ann Rhodes would like to thank the Walton County Sheriff’s Department and Bobby Elmore for all the long hours and hard work they’ve put into the investigation and prosecution,” Rhodes’ sister, Sonja Rhodes, said in a statement. “Hiedi was a loving, forgiving, kind person who never met a stranger. She was taken away from us too soon and will be missed every day.”

Adkinson said the successful conclusion to the Davis case “demonstrates the determination of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office to see justice done.”

“We knew this would be difficult, but we were unwilling to let it go. It took over three years, but we were able to bring some level of closure to the family and protect the public from a ruthless killer,” he said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.

SHALIMAR — A man who made news in 2014 for allegedly kidnapping his 3-year-old autistic child and fleeing to Nevada is now facing charges of sexual battery of a minor.

The charges involve a girl who claims to have been sexually battered more than 30 times between 2009 and 2013, before the kidnapping in March 2014.

Karl Menz, 52, is currently in custody in Okaloosa County on charges related to the kidnapping.

That case is currently scheduled for trial on July 13.

Menz is now also charged with sexual battery of a victim under the age of 12, sexual battery on a victim over 12 and under 18, lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under 12, and lewd or lascivious molestation on a victim older than 12 but younger than sixteen.

Metz is accused of sexually molesting the girl more than 30 times beginning when she was 10 years old, according to the arrest report.

The girl was taken to the Department of Children and Families office in Fort Walton Beach on Oct. 16, 2013, by someone she had told about the attacks, the report said.

The attacks allegedly took place in Walton, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.

Locations in Okaloosa County included Rocky Bayou State Park, Henderson Beach State Park and homes and parking lots in Fort Walton Beach, according to the report.

The victim reported that Menz told her if she told anyone about the attacks, her mother would go to jail, lose custody of her or commit suicide.

He also threatened to kill her and told her he wasn't afraid to go to jail, according to the report.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Trista Pruett at 850-315-4445 or tpruett@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @TristaPnwfdn.

BAKER - A Baker man is accused of attacking a female acquaintance and taking her cell phone while she was waiting for a relative to pick her up.

Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the home on May 11 after 7:30 a.m., according to the arrest report. The victim said 38-year-old Michael David Sowell had pushed her down multiple times.

She said he’d then punched her in the back of the head and kicked her in the leg, the report said. She had a bruise on her leg and a scratch on her arm.

She said she’d gone to get some of her things she’d left at his house and he began yelling at her, according to the report. When she tried to leave, he allegedly began pushing her.

She called for her brother to come get her and went outside.

Sowell pushed her up against the fence and took her phone, the report said. She said he kept offering to give it back to her, but when she would reach for it, he would try to grab her hand and pull her back inside the fence.

Her brother told deputies that he saw Sowell push the victim multiple times and he told her to just leave the phone, according to the report. Sowell denied touching the woman, stating she’d thrown her phone on the ground in his yard.

He is charged with felony battery as a second or subsequent offense and petit theft.

His next scheduled court date is June 16.

NICEVILLE - A man called Niceville Police officers around 3:15 p.m. on May 5 to report two vehicles had been keyed.

The man reported that sometime during the night his truck and SUV had both been keyed, according to the offense report. The SUV had scratches on the passenger side front door, rear door and rear quarter panel.

The truck had letters scratched into the hood, the report said. The estimated cost of the damages was $1,800.

On May 7, a second man reported that two vehicles had been vandalized between midnight at 2:30 a.m., although he didn’t call police until 3:47 p.m., according to the report. Two trucks were scratched at that residence, which words on the passenger doors of each.

Officers are investigating.

NICEVILLE - Multiple home and camper burglaries were reported to Niceville Police officers on May 7, with items ranging from medications and alcohol to an air compressor taken.

A man called officers at 7:43 a.m. to report that his travel trailer had been broken into, according to the incident report. Police responded to the Helms Street residence and found that the burglar or burglars had climbed over the fence, taken bottles of alcohol from a wet bar near the pool and then gone into the garage.

Once inside the garage, the burglar had rummaged through the trailer, taking a flashlight to explore the rest of the garage. The burglar took a drill and a bag of hand tools from the garage, the report said. The flashlight, an air compressor and a hair trimmer were recovered from near the wooden fence.

Evidence was collected at the scene.

At 8:04 a.m., officers were called to a John Sims Parkway address for a report of a travel trailer being broken into, the report said. The caller said she arrived at work to find items from the camper trailer spread out throughout a fenced in area.

It appeared the burglar had climbed a fence to get into the lot and tried to get into three campers. Four tents were missing from one camper, according to the report. Evidence was also collected at that scene.

FORT WALTON BEACH - A Destin woman is accused of taking $387 worth of merchandise from Kohl’s Department Store, 800 N. Beal Parkway.

The woman, identified as 25-year-old Georgia Elaine Ormandy, was arrested on May 11, more than three months after the Feb. 6 theft, according to the arrest report. On Feb. 6, the loss prevention officer at Kohl’s saw Ormandy pick out jewelry, cosmetics, clothing and perfume before going into a fitting room.

She then left the fitting room and pushed a cart full of merchandise to the registers, leaving it there, the report said. In addition to the merchandise in the cart, the loss prevention officer found tags and security tags in the cart for two eye shadows, two foundations, one perfume, two necklaces, one purse, one pair of earrings, one bra and one jean jacket.

Ormandy is charged with felony theft of more than $300 but less than $5,000.

Her next scheduled court date is June 16.

NICEVILLE - A 19-year-old Niceville woman is facing misdemeanor drug charges after allegedly running a stop sign.

Niceville Police officers witnessed the traffic infraction at the intersection of 48th Street and Fir Avenue on May 15 around 4:30 p.m., according to the arrest report. The vehicle came to a stop at a Palm Boulevard address.

Officers approached the vehicle and noticed the smell of marijuana, the report said. When they spoke to the woman, she allegedly admitted that there was a "blunt" in the backseat.

Officers found two "Swisher Sweets" with a total of five grams of marijuana in the vehicle, according to the report.

She is charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.

Her next scheduled court date is June 2.

NICEVILLE - Niceville Police officers responded to a Chip Lane residence around 10:45 p.m. on May 8 for a report of a vacuum salesman in a man's home.

The caller reported that the salesman had sold his intoxicated father-in-law a vacuum cleaner and would not tear up the sales paperwork, according to the call log. He also did not believe the salesman had a permit for Niceville or that the salesman should be out so late at night.

Officers responded, but the salesman had already left the area.

They found the salesman later that night and informed him that he needed a Niceville permit to solicit in the city, the log said. The salesman cooperated and left the area.