The week in law enforcement: School burglaries and the case of the $2,000 purse

School burglaries
Three burglaries were discovered in the afternoon and evening of Tuesday, November 10, 2009.

West DeFuniak Elementary, Maude Saunders Elementary, and the Walton Career Developmental Center were all closed due to Tropical Storm Ida during the break-ins and only minor damage was reportedly caused.

At this time it does not appear that any items were taken from the schools. School district administration is expected to complete a full inventory upon return to work.

Fugitive arrest on sex charges
Over the weekend, a fugitive from the Mossy Head community surrendered to authorities. In 2006, Todd Spikes was arrested after being shown on NBC's “To Catch a Predator” program soliciting sex from what he believed to be an underage teenage girl. But in reality, it was an undercover investigator in Flagler County, Fla.

The 44-year-old suspect was a veteran law enforcement officer having spent time as a policeman in both Florala and DeFuniak Springs. Spikes is now being held without bond at the Walton County Jail. He's facing two charges:  Lewd and lascivious exhibition with the victim less than 16, and using the computer to seduce and solicit a child.
Flagler County authorities are expected to extradite Spikes to their jurisdiction.

Internet fraud
Walton County Sheriff’s Officials would like to remind the public to be very careful when posting any personal information over the Internet.  Recently, a South Walton County woman was victimized while searching for a job on-line.

The Loblolly Bay Drive resident told Walton County Sheriff’s Deputies’ that she had posted an ad on Monster.com looking for a job. A company by the name of “Regency Group Inc.” contacted her through her Monster.com account. They recruited her to be a “money manager”.  The victim filled out an application for the job, giving all of her personal information for a background check. That included her bank account information.  

A representative from the bogus group explained to the woman that they would deposit money into her account, and she would then wire the money to their customers. The victim was reportedly contacted by e-mail stating that the funds had been deposited, but instead an undetermined amount of money was removed from the victim’s bank account.

Walton County Sheriff’s Investigators say be completely sure who is to receive the information before sending it into Cyberspace. Bank account and credit card information should be kept confidential. Social Security numbers can often be used by criminals to steal a person’s identity.

The case of the $2,000 purse
DESTIN — A woman who gave friend her $2,000 purse to hold while she went on stage for a costume contest at Emerald Grande on Halloween night called police when her friend and her purse went missing.

The woman told the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputy that she'd handed the purse to a friend to hold.

When she left the stage, she noticed her friend was gone.

The next day, Brandon Wade Brookshaw returned the purse, but the victim found $650 missing from her wallet.
After being read his rights, Brookshaw, a 29-year-old Santa Rosa Beach man, told the deputy that he had removed all of the cash from his friend's wallet, but that he "promised to pay her back the money."

He was charged with felony grand theft.