Man Charged with Carjacking In Okaloosa Island

Matt Boster

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Posted by: Matt Boster
Date: Jun 07 2021 1:14 PM

An Okaloosa Island carjacking suspect who ditched the stolen SUV in Destin was plucked out of the Gulf of Mexico about eight hours later after deputies responded to a couple criminal mischief complaints June 6th.

37-year old Donald Douglass, no known address, is now charged with carjacking with a firearm, grand theft of a motor vehicle, resisting an officer with active lights and siren, robbery with a firearm, criminal mischief, and felony violation of probation.

Two Santa Rosa County women reported their Gold Chevy Trailblazer had been stolen by a man at 1334 Miracle Strip Parkway Sunday after he approached one of them around 11 a.m. and showed her a gun handle tucked in his pants. He said he needed their car and allowed her to get her toddler out of the vehicle before taking off in it.

An Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted the stolen car and began to pursue it eastbound on Highway 98 into Destin. The pursuit was terminated for public safety reasons due to the amount of traffic on the roadway. A Walton County deputy also spotted the SUV on Scenic Highway 98, but the carjacker again took off and ditched the vehicle at a dead end on Kokomo Cove. An initial search was unsuccessful.

Later that day OCSO deputies were called to the area of Sunfish Street and Scenic 98 in response to criminal mischief complaints involving a man using an outdoor shower. They spotted Douglass as he ran towards the beach and into the Gulf. Deputies entered the water and took him into custody. Douglass claimed the Milton women had given him permission to take their car. The victims’ cell phones were found tossed into a median on Highway 98 in Destin

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