MIRAMAR BEACH - A 16-year-old escapee from the Department of Juvenile Justice in Crestview was found Thursday evening squatting in a condominium on Driftwood Road.
Walton County sheriff's deputies were called by a neighbor who noticed the vacant unit did not appear to be secure, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office press release. When deputies arrived they found the door was secured by only a chain and a chair.
The boy answered the door and said his mother was at work. According to the new release, deputies noticed men’s clothing strewn throughout the apartment while talking to the boy.
The boy changed his story multiple times and refused to give deputies his mother’s name or where she worked, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Deputies searched the condo and found a firearm among the boy’s belongings.
After the teen was taken to the Walton County Jail for booking, it was discovered that he had escaped from the juvenile facility Dec. 1.
The boy was returned to DJJ and charged with criminal mischief, trespass in a structure and obstruction of a criminal investigation by providing false information.
