PANAMA CITY — A deputy and a suspect in a kidnapping case were both injured this morning near Vinson Road as the suspect was located and arrested, officials said.

More details about the extent of the injuries were not immediately available.

Randall Ralph Holley, 39, is wanted by Panama City Beach Police, Washington County and Escambia county on multiple charges including grand theft and aggravated battery, officials said. 

The search for Holley in Bay County began after the Washington County incident Wednesday. Officers searched wooded areas for several hours Wednesday but were not able to apprehend him. The search began again Thursday morning, officials said.

Check back for updates. 

PANAMA CITY BEACH -- The past caught up with a Kennesaw, Ga., man this week when he was arrested and charged for allegedly filming some female vacation companions during a visit to Panama City Beach in 2012.

William Randolph Cushen, 35, is charged with four counts of video voyeurism. The charges stem from files discovered on his computer by Cobb County, Ga., authorities.

At least one of the video files showed Cushen’s face as he installed a hidden camera over the toilet in a room at the Long Beach Resort between May 19 and June 2 in 2012, according to charging documents. Other videos allegedly show a victim urinating or moving about the room in a bikini.

WATERSOUND -- The St. Joe Co. announced Wednesday it closed on the sale of 380,000 acres of timberland to Utah-based company AgReserves, Inc. for $562 million.

The deal incorporates the majority of the company’s timberlands in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Liberty and Wakulla counties, leaving St. Joe with about 185,000 acres of land primarily in Northwest Florida.

The $562 million sale price also included $200 million in the form of a timber note. The land had an aggregate carrying value of about $52 million in late 2013.

St.Joe Chief Executive Officer Park Brady said the sale will provide significant liquidity and opportunity to create long-term value for shareholders.

“Management can focus on our core business activities of real estate development in Northwest Florida, including opportunities in the active adult market and expanding our resort and leisure operations,” Brady said.

AgReserves representatives said the company intends to maintain timber and agricultural uses of the lands.

WEST BAY — Deputies hunted a man suspected in several crimes for about 24 hours before arresting him after a fight Thursday morning at his home.

Two deputies sustained minor injuries after fighting with Randall Ralph Holley, 39, of 7029 Vinson Road, who dove out of a window in an attempt to escape arrest Thursday, despite having been shot in the leg with buckshot during an altercation in Washington County a day earlier.

According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Holley and his wife had a fight early in the week and she went to stay with friends at a home on Greenhead Road. Holley showed up Wednesday and demanded that his wife come with him, but they ended up fighting again.

Holley got into a vehicle and began driving erratically around the property; at one point he drove his vehicle straight at someone on the property. Holley missed, and his target, who was armed with a 12-guage shotgun, opened fire and shot the driver’s side door, apparently hitting Holley. Holley left after that.

Washington County Sheriff’s deputies learned from Holley’s family that he had made statements that he wouldn’t be taken alive and would kill anyone who tried to arrest him, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

SWAT teams from the WCSO and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office were involved in the ensuing hunt for Holley, as was the U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force.

The BCSO helicopter spent much of the afternoon and evening looking for Holley in the area of Vinson Road, which is a dead-end street in a heavily wooded area between Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport and the Washington County line.

Believing Holley was effectively pinned down, deputies searched Holley’s home and the woods Wednesday night to no avail, BCSO spokeswoman Ruth Corley said.

Deputies caught up to Holley Thursday in the home. After he was subdued he was treated for injuries, which included injuries from the buckshot load. Corley described Holley’s injuries as relatively minor.

Holley was arrested on warrants from the Panama City Beach Police Department and Escambia County for grand theft. Police Chief Drew Whitman said stolen property was recovered from Holley’s home.

He also is charged with aggravated assault and domestic battery in Washington County, four counts of resisting arrest with violence and two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.

Holley will be booked into the Bay County Jail.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Family members of a spring breaker missing since Monday said Thursday they are pleased with search efforts after meeting with leaders from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, but they hope community members will continue to watch out for Reny Jose.

Jose, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student visiting from Rice University in Houston, was reported missing Tuesday morning by companions who traveled here with him.

The family expressed concerns earlier in the day about the search efforts, and the sheriff’s office announced it would direct additional resources to the search for Jose.

“We desperately just want him home and urgently plead with all of Panama City for their help,” the family said in a prepared statement.

The sheriff’s office announced the Joint Agency in-Water Strike (JAWS) team, a unit comprised of members of various state and local law enforcement officers who specialize in marine investigations, will be diving in the Gulf in the area near the house Jose and more than a dozen friends rented for the week.

The sheriff’s office also notified neighboring law enforcement agencies, including the Coast Guard and the sheriffs of Walton and Okaloosa counties.

Benny Thottam, a friend of Jose’s father who issued a statement on the family’s behalf Thursday morning, said the search had expanded to include vacant buildings in the area.

Jose’s companions said they last saw him about 6:30 p.m. Monday on Front Beach Road not far from the rented home. Deputies later found his clothes, wallet and cellphone in a nearby trash can.

One of Jose’s friends told investigators Jose had taken LSD Monday and talked about committing suicide. Thottam said family members do not believe Jose, a 4.0 student who enjoys playing volleyball and spending time with his family, would have been using drugs.

“This came to us as a shock,” Thottam said. “He was looking forward to graduating and finding a job.”

The BCSO helicopter continued to search by air, and marine units searched the Gulf.

Thottam asked the community to remain vigilant and report any contact with Jose.

“We’re still looking for the community to help out,” he said.

HOW TO HELP

Anyone with information about Reny Jose is asked to contact the Bay County Sheriff’s Office at 850-747-5079 or CrimeStoppers at 850-785-TIPS (8477). Jose’s family has created a Facebook page called FIND RENY JOSE to exchange information.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The lawyer for a woman who helped commit a murder in Callaway when she was 15 told the Florida Supreme Court she deserves a new sentencing hearing because of a federal ban on mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles.

The court heard arguments Thursday in the case of Rebecca Falcon, which could have far-reaching effects for juveniles who were sentenced to life-without-parole. Falcon’s lawyer argued that a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling should be applied retroactively to juveniles previously convicted. A lower court previously rejected her motion.

Falcon was convicted for her role in the 1997 shooting of cab driver Richard Phillips. She was sentenced to life under Florida law.

“We’re talking about just giving a new sentencing in front of a trial judge,” Falcon’s lawyer Karen Gottlieb said. “We’re not going to impanel a new jury. ... It’s obviously not going to overturn any conviction.”

A spokesman for the state attorney’s office declined comment on the case until the Supreme Court has made a ruling. The state does not believe that U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling is applicable retroactively. The ruling said that judges must consider age and other factors when sentencing juvenile killers.

New legislation establishing sentencing guidelines for juveniles who are tried as adults and convicted of serious felonies is going through state Senate and House committees.

Under the bill, juveniles convicted of serious felonies would get a review hearing after 20 years of imprisonment and another after 30 years.

Juveniles convicted of murder, but not involved in the act of killing, would receive a review hearing after 25 years.

Juveniles who actually pulled the trigger or committed the act would get 35-to-life with no hearing.

“The courts are asking us to give them guidance,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Orange Park, said Wednesday. “It is the Legislature’s job to define crimes and fix punishments.”

Some lawmakers have voiced concerns about the harshness of the proposal, noting that juveniles mature both socially and physiologically within 20 years.

A small electrical fire in a classroom caused students at Hiland Park Elementary to evacuate the campus Thursday.

No one was harmed and no students were in the classroom at the time of the fire, a school district official said. A teacher in the classroom put out the fire using a fire extinguisher.

Click for a photo gallery from the scene.

APALACHICOLA — An early morning fire Thursday largely destroyed a two-story, wooden home built in 1910 on the historic north side of Apalachicola.

Emergency officials were alerted to the fire just after 5 a.m. EST. Apalachicola volunteer firefighter Mark Creamer said he passed the home, at 213 U.S. 98, on the way to the firehouse and could see the second floor was already burning.

Savannah Dykes watched the blaze Thursday as a cold drizzle fell early. She resided in an apartment on the second floor of the house with her daughter, Layla, and father, George Dykes. Her father and William Laine, who owns the 4,000-square-foot dwelling, escaped uninjured, but she wasn’t sure about the animals.

“I guess I’ll come back later and look for my cat,” she said.

Click to read the rest of the story

SOUTHPORT — A Southport man was charged with murder Friday after deputies discovered a woman shot to death on his back porch.

Arrested was Philip Moran of 3609 Conwick Drive in Southport. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Milissa Moran, 49.

According to the BCSO, deputies responded to a 911 call requesting a welfare check on a residence on Conwick Drive shortly after 4 p.m. Friday.

Deputies responded and were able to see a body on the back porch. They tried to contact Philip Moran, but he refused to answer the door, BCSO said.

After a standoff, deputies were able to enter the home and take Moran into custody without further incident just inside the front door.

Deputies searched the home and found Milissa Moran dead on the back porch. A dog was also found dead on the back porch. Both appeared to have gunshot wounds, BCSO said.

Investigators have learned Philip Moran originally contacted an acquaintance in Rhode Island who then called Moran’s mother. His mother in turn made the 911 call to the BCSO and requested a welfare check at the home.

Moran has been arrested and charged with an open count of murder. He was being booked into the Bay County Jail Friday night.

Authorities remained at the home late Friday night conducting a forensic examination of the scene. The body will be turned over to the Medical Examiner for autopsy.

An earlier version of this story is posted below:

SOUTHPORT -- Deputies responded to a 911 call just after 4 p.m. at 3609 Conwick Road, where they found a woman and a dog dead, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

A man in the house refused to answer the door. Deputies went inside and detained him for questioning.

The property appraiser’s website says the house belongs to Phillip and Melissa Moran.

Further details are unknown at this time. Check back for details.

PANAMA CITY — Local law enforcement on Friday displayed masks, guns, counterfeit money, narcotics and hash vaporizers from two separate busts over the past two days.

BayCountySheriff Frank McKeithen talked about the two busts from two separate areas of the county at a press conference Friday. The busts, orchestrated with the cooperation of several law enforcement agencies, led to the arrests of five people and the removal of illegal objects and substances from the streets, authorities said.

In the counterfeiting case, BCSO arrested Brandon Varnadoe, 26; Michael Adam Shiver, 47; and William Robertson, 32, Friday morning after deputies discovered firearms, masks, narcotics, counterfeit bills and counterfeiting equipment in two rooms of the Wyndham Bay Point Resort, 4114 Jan Cooley Drive, Panama City Beach.

VIDEO

Deputies reportedly responded to a call from hotel security about a suspicious person. Upon their arrival, a K-9 unit detected marijuana in a suspect’s car, which allowed deputies to attain search warrants to the rooms where they found evidence of counterfeiting operations, a handgun and a mask, McKeithen said.

“We find the mask and we find this together,” McKeithen said, displaying a disarmed handgun. “As law enforcement officers, that worries us to the point that we believe these suspects had other things on their minds.”

Deputies also found several hundred dollars worth of counterfeit bills in various stages of manufacture and arrested the three men for possession of counterfeit bills and counterfeiting tools.

McKeithen suspected the counterfeit notes would be used in high volume areas, such as restaurant or bars.

Intent to sell

BCSO narcotic units arrested Lynn Haven residents Hoa Nguyen, 32, and Jennifer Nguyen, 33, and charged them with possession of marijuana Thursday afternoon. BCSO seized 130 grams of hash, worth about $7,500, more than 60 grams of marijuana worth about $1,300, and $25,000 in cash at their home of 1610 Belmont Blvd., according to BCSO reports.

A string of car burglaries committed by minors in February led deputies to the Nguyen residence. The minors admitted items from the burglaries were being sold to purchase marijuana and hash, McKeithen said.

“One of them actually still owed $700,” McKeithen said of one teenager’s alleged pot tab.

Along with the evidence seized in the drug bust, an electronic cigarette modified for “hash oil” consumption was among paraphernalia confiscated from the property. McKeithen admitted deputies would have a difficult time discerning electronic cigarettes from their modified counterparts.

“It’s going to be difficult for us to determine if your electronic cigarette is smoking hash oil or blueberry vapor,” he said. “I can tell you right now, we are not going to be stopping people and checking for that, so we’ll go ahead and get that out of the way.”

McKeithen said the two busts were the latest in a string of victories for local law enforcement in the midst of a Spring Break activity surge.

“If we continue to nip these things in the bud like we’re doing, it could be a good year for us,” he said. “If we can’t, it could be a bad year.”

Since Spring Break’s start, McKeithen said, BCSO has seized nine firearms.

PANAMA CITY -- A woman is in critical condition after being hit by an SUV Friday, a Panama City Police Department news release states.

At about 8 p.m. Friday, Kelly Tuggle, 38, was attempting to walk cross West 15^th Street when she was hit by a 2006 Nissan Murano driven by James Clark, 46, the release states. Clark was traveling west on West 15^th Street near Fountain Avenue when Tuggle stepped into traffic in front of him.

Tuggle was taken to Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System with life threatening injuries, the release states. She is in critical, but stable condition.

The crash is under investigation and no charges are expected at this time, police said.

Anyone with information referencing the investigation should contact the Police Department at 872-3112.

PANAMA CITY BEACH —  When Samira Mbotizafy Frasch arrived in Tallahassee four years ago from France, she told her new friends about a glamorous past where she modeled for a top agency in Paris and attended the prestigious University of Paris-Sud, known for its math studies.

She married a podiatrist, Adam Frasch, whom she met in Paris in 2006, and moved into his 5,000-square foot, $500,000 home in a gated community. He also had a home in Panama City Beach.

During their courtship, records show he bought Samira, a native of Madagascar, first-class airline tickets to visit or meet him and went on shopping sprees that included a $4,000 outlay at Roberto Cavalli and high-end shows in Las Vegas, where they were married in 2009. They had two daughters: Hyrah, now 2; and 10-month-old Skynaah.

But Samira’s death — her body was found Feb. 22 at the bottom of the family swimming pool with her shoes on — remains mysterious two weeks later. Samira couldn’t swim, friends said, and she rarely spent time by the pool. She had recently filed for divorce and been given temporary custody of the girls and the house.

The medical examiner’s office has completed its autopsy and released the findings to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives aren’t talking, although a spokesman confirmed Adam is a person of interest.

“The husband always is,” said Maj. Michael Wood of the sheriff’s office. Adam Frasch’s attorney, John Lease, said his client did not take Samira’s life. After the body was discovered, Frasch was charged with taking the girls to his house in Panama City Beach without permission. He was taken into custody by Bay County officials while putting the children into his vehicle. He was released days later and must wear an ankle monitor while that case is resolved.

Mark Becker, who was Adam Frasch’s lawyer between 2009 and 2012, said that a mid-sized city in the southern U.S. like Tallahassee would not have been Samira’s first choice in terms of place to live.

“But Adam is a charming guy, he is very successful with women,” Becker said. “It’s a simple story. He was in Paris, met a woman in a bar and fell in love.”

Friends say that Samira had a 10-year-old son who lived in Paris, and her mother lived on the island of Reunion, off of Madagascar. Her father died last year, said Linda Walker, a family friend.

“She had all her friends in Europe, not here, and she came here to have a family, raise kids,” Walker said.

Much of Samira’s energy went to her crusade to make the couple’s first daughter, Hyrah, into a child model and celebrity. She created a Web site for the child and a Facebook page that has garnered 10,000 likes, featuring videos of Hyrah being carried about at the Kentucky Derby, Niagara Falls and Las Vegas. Samira handed out pink glossy business cards bearing Hyrah’s name and photo.

“She really wanted to make Hyrah famous,” Walker said.

Photos from inside the Frasch home viewed by The Associated Press show a home heaped with goods from all over the world, from vases and art to luxurious rugs and glassware.

The Frasch garage had several luxury cars parked inside, including a Ferrari. A Range Rover and an older model Mercedes sat in the driveway, as well as a new, shiny red three-wheeler.

At another, more modest home several miles away owned by Adam Frasch, four vehicles were parked in the driveway, including an older Lexus, and a Pontiac G6 sedan, with customized metallic orange rims and matching paint.

“He has at least 30 cars,” said Becker, the lawyer.

Adam Frasch, 46, had been married twice previously and has two other children. His thriving medical practice has allowed him to live a life surrounded by things he loves. In court documents, he professes a love of buying sunglasses in addition to vehicles, and acknowledged that at one point in his life, he gambled up to $10,000 a week.

He also had several run-ins with the law, records show. In 2008, he was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting an officer.

According to a 2009 Tallahassee police report, Adam Frasch threatened the lawyer of his ex-wife, Tracey, in a letter left at her office. The letter claimed that Kane was under federal investigation and that “now you will be disbarred, Colorado + Florida + fined beyond your abilities.”

The lawyer, Mary Kane, told police that she feared for her safety, the report said.

“She stated that she believed Frasch to be violent and that he has access to weapons,” the report said.

The Frasches appeared to have a yo-yo relationship bookended by criminal charges against Samira.

Records show Samira pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct after an argument with Adam in an Orlando hotel room in May 2010. But there was little rancor in their marriage, at least publicly, between then and last year.

In the last months of 2013, the marriage was frayed, and the he said-she said battles resulted several times in sheriff’s deputies being called to their home.

Samira was arrested in August on charges of domestic battery in Leon County for assaulting her husband. The charges were later dropped. She filed for a divorce in September. The following month, Frasch had a scrape with the law after arguing with a police officer who had given a friend a speeding ticket. The case was eventually dropped.

The family home where Samira’s body was found had a surveillance system that could be monitored from a smartphone, said Linda Walker, who was friendly with both Adam and Samira. If it were operating, it would likely catch any perpetrator on tape.

“I can’t imagine that it would come to something like this,” Walker said. “Adam was kind and gentle around her, and I never heard him even raise his voice.”

MARIANNA -- Two adults were arrested and a child taken into state custody Friday after police discovered remnants of materials to cook methamphetamines at a Marianna home, a Jackson County Sheriff’s Office news release states.

At 8:18 p.m. Friday, JCSO and the Department of Children and Families responded to allegations that meth was being cooked in the presence of a child at the home of Krystal Hunter, 29, and Ronald “Trip” Grant, 26, the release states.

Police searched the home, 2826 New Hope Road in Marianna, and found remnants of one of the phases of methamphetamine in a plastic bottle and another bottle used to make meth, the release states. Other items found: less than 20 grams of marijuana, a glass pipe used to ingest methamphetamines and items used to make meth.

The 2-year-old child at the residence was easily within reach of the toxic substances, the release states. After being vetted by DCF, the child was turned over to the maternal grandmother.

Hunter and Grant were charged with attempting to manufacture methamphetamines, possession of marijuana and child abuse, the release states.

SOUTHPORT — A bullet to the back of the head fired from an assault rifle was how a Southport woman was killed Friday, according to law enforcement records released Saturday.

A Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit states Philip Moran, 48, fatally shot his wife Milissa Moran, 49, and a dog at the couple’s residence at 3609 Conwick Drive in Southport. Moran was charged with murder Friday night.

At his first court appearance hearing Saturday morning, Moran’s bail was set at $200,000. He remained at the Bay County Jail Saturday night.

According to BCSO, deputies responded to a 911 call requesting a welfare check at the residence on Conwick Drive shortly after 4 p.m. Friday.

Deputies who responded said Moran appeared to be “in an excited state.” He initially refused to open the door, but deputies were able to enter the home and take Moran into custody.

“Upon checking the residence to ensure the safety of the occupants, the victim was found deceased laying outside on the back porch next to a dog that had also been fatally wounded by a gunshot,” the arrest affidavit states. “Upon further examination of the victim … was found to have a gunshot wound to the back of the head.”

The report said no one else was in the home and that an “assault-style rifle” was used to commit the homicide.  

PANAMA CITY -- Police are investigating a shooting that happened shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday, Panama City Police Department officials said.

The shooting happened near the roadway at 1010 Center Ave., officials said. No one was injured.

Officials were investigating the scene Saturday night. No other details were available Saturday night.

PARKER – Jaz, a seven-year-old bloodhound, has tracked down missing children and sniffed out criminals. She has lived, trained and worked with her handler, Deputy Nick Hall, since she was a puppy.

“She does it for the praise. She doesn’t like toys; she doesn’t even have a toy in the house that she likes to play with. It’s all about me getting excited and loving on her,” said Hall.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office honored police, military, search and rescue team and other service dogs like Jaz on Sunday in its sixth annual K9 Veterans Memorial Service.

“Any working dog from the past up to the present time, we want to honor them,” said Lt. Kevin Francis, who first had the idea to hold the annual service and has been in charge of it ever since.

This year’s service was held in Parker’s Memorial Park. Parker Mayor Richard Musgrave read a proclamation declaring March 13, the birthday of the United States K9 Corps, as K9 Veterans Day.

Previous services have been held in every Bay County city except Springfield, where it will be held next year.

“At that point, every city within this county has gone through the proclamation process of March 13 as K9 Veterans Day,” Francis said. That is his ultimate goal for the service; Francis may step down from heading it up every year once that goal is met, but he said the sheriff’s office will still hold the yearly service.

The Warriors Watch Riders came out to honor the dogs as well. The group honors veterans in parades, at funerals and other memorial services. About a dozen members lined up with American flags at the park.

“These four-legged guys are also veterans … Just because they have four legs doesn’t mean they aren’t deserving of the honor and respect that they’re entitled to,” said Ken Mouzon, a Warriors Watch Rider member.

Mouzon is a veteran himself and a former corrections officer who has worked with service dogs.

“They do their job and they’re good at it,” he said of the dogs.

Several K9s stood quietly with their handlers as BCSO Lt. Dennes Hutto and Greg May, director of Gulf Coast State College’s criminal justice program, spoke and read poems in ode to service dogs. Francis and a representative from Bay County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue team read the names of service dogs that have retired or passed on.

The service closed with a shotgun salute and playing of “Taps.”
 

MARIANNA - A Marianna woman was arrested in a stabbing case, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

Rowena Dixon was involved in an argument with an unidentified man and reportedly stabbed him in the back and left the scene Saturday night, officials wrote in a news release. Dixon was identified as the suspect by the unidentified man, who was treated by Jackson County EMS and later transported to a hospital in Dothan, Ala., officials said.

Dixon was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Correctional Facility where she will await first appearance.
 

PANAMA CITY BEACH — A Tennessee teen faces DUI manslaughter charges after a spring breaker was killed Sunday night in a head-on collision.
Detectives still are investigating the crash, which occurred on Thomas Drive near the Signal Hill Golf Course at about 9:15 p.m. Investigators said the crash involved a 2001 Ford Taurus sedan driven by 18-year-old Bruce George of Nolensville, Tenn., and a 2013 Panther scoot car operated by 22-year-old Brandon Beverly of Knoxville, Tenn.
Authorities said the Taurus was traveling east on Thomas Drive, approaching the area of Signal Hill Golf Course, and the scoot car was traveling west on Thomas Drive, approaching the area of Signal Hill Golf Course.
According to police, the Taurus drove into the westbound lane and collided with the scoot car. Beverly, who was ejected by the crash, was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead from his injuries. 
Witnesses to the crash identified George as the driver, which he admitted to police, according to an arrest report. George’s blood alcohol content was 0.159, nearly twice the legal benchmark at which a driver is presumed impaired, which is 0.08. 
George was charged with DUI manslaughter and taken to the Bay County Jail. A judge set his bond at $100,000 Monday.
Police said additional charges are possible. 

Below is an earlier version of this report.

PANAMA CITY BEACH – A spring breaker was killed Sunday night in a traffic crash involving alcohol, according to the Panama City Beach Police Department.

Detectives are investigating the crash which occurred on Thomas Drive near the Signal Hill Golf Course at about 9:15 p.m. Investigators said the crash involved a 2001 Ford Taurus sedan being driven by 18 year-old Bruce George of Nolensville, Tennessee, and a 2013 Panther scoot car operated by 22-year-old Brandon Beverly of Knoxville, Tennessee, according to a news release.
The Ford Taurus was traveling east on Thomas Drive approaching the area of Signal Hill Golf Course and the scoot car was traveling west on Thomas Drive approaching the area of Signal Hill Golf Course.

The Ford Taurus drove into the westbound lane, and crashed into the scoot car ejecting Beverly. Beverly was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead from his injuries. George was charged with DUI manslaughter and taken to the Bay County Jail, officials wrote.

Additional charges are pending and this crash is still under investigation, the news release states.
 

SANTA ROSA BEACH
Two out-of-state 18-year-olds hospitalized with serious injuries Sunday evening after a wreck on U.S. 98 near McKenny Road.
Joshua Tilly of Waco, Texas, was driving a 2008 Cadillac westbound around 6 p.m. when he was unable to maneuver a curve in the roadway, according to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) news release. Tilly’s vehicle went into the north shoulder of the roadway and continued in a westerly direction, hitting a tree, a culvert, a telephone box and a utility box, the release said.
During the wreck, the vehicle overturned and came to a final rest on the north shoulder of U.S. 98. The wreck caused about $9,000 in damage to the vehicle, FHP reported.
Tilly was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the wreck; alcohol was not a factor, according to FHP.
Tilly was airlifted to Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System. His passenger, 18-year-old Austin, Texas, resident Hunter Hodes, was taken to Sacred Heart Emerald Coast.
Tilly is being charged with careless driving, the FHP report said.
 

PANAMA CITY BEACH — One person was killed and two others were injured in a fire at the Campers Inn campground on Thomas Drive, fire officials said Tuesday morning.

The blaze happened at about 3 a.m.

Panama City Beach Fire Chief John Daly said firefighters got the call to the single-wide trailer at 2:50 a.m., got there in minutes and found the trailer "fully involved." Firefighters were notified that a person was trapped inside the fire but they were unable to reach him until the fire was extinguished.

Officials declined to release name of the person killed and the two injured victims pending notification of the victims’ family. The condition of the two injured people was unknown Tuesday evening.

Police Chief Drew Whitman said they were related to each other and were not here for Spring Break. Their names might not be released until Wednesday, he said. The Gadsden Times newspaper reported the two injured are from Gadsden, Ala.

Daly said investigators believe the fire might have been caused by an electrical short.

“It certainly doesn’t seem to be suspicious at this point,” Daly said of the fire.

The trailer was destroyed in the blaze. There was minor damage to property at the two campsites next to the mobile home as well, said Campers Inn Manager Frank Musgrove.

Musgrove said he was close to the people who were in the mobile home. He declined to identify them.

“They were winter guests,” Musgrove said. “This was their winter home.”

There also were two pet dogs that have not been seen or heard from since the fire, Musgrove said.

An earlier version of this story is posted below:

PANAMA CITY BEACH - One person was killed and two others were injured in a fire at the Campers Inn campground on Thomas Drive, fire officials said Tuesday morning.

The blaze happened at about 3 a.m.

Panama City Beach Fire Chief John Daly said firefighters got the call to the single-wide trailer at 2:50 a.m., got there in minutes and found the trailer "fully involved." Firefighters were notified that a person was trapped inside the fire but they were unable to reach him until the fire was extinguished.

Officials declined to release name of the deceased and the two injured victims pending the notification of next-of-kin.

"It certainly doesn’t seem to be suspicious at this point," Daly said of the fire. He added that investigators believe if could have been cause by an electrical issue. The trailer was comepletly destroyed in the blaze.