Okaloosa Co. Fugitive Arrested

A 36-year-old fugitive from justice man was arrested in rural, Western Walton County on several “outstanding” fugitive warrants from Okaloosa County: Domestic Violence Battery by Strangulation, Aggravated Battery and Failure to Appear.  David Cottrell was listed on the U.S. Marshal’s Florida Regional Task Force.

At around ten o’clock Thursday morning, Walton County Deputies arrived at a home on Kelly Place in the Mossy Head Community.  At the time, Cottrell was in the front yard and began to run away.  Cottrell would run into the surrounding woods.  Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputies along with the Walton Correctional Institution K-9 tracking team arrived on the scene to assist in the search.

After about two hours, the WCI tracking team was able to find the suspect hiding underneath the skirting of a nearby mobile home on Kelly Place.  Cottrell would eventually surrender, and was taken into custody and booked into the Walton County Jail.  After his initial First Appearance Friday morning in DeFuniak Springs, Cottrell will be transferred to the Okaloosa County Jail in Crestview.

The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force personnel also assisted in the arrest of Cottrell this morning.