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04/25/2024
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Niceville Police arrested a man accused of shooting his handgun into another driver’s car while both were driving across the Rocky Bayou Bridge on February 11th.
Niceville Police says they were able to quickly arrest Christopher Jay Harris, thanks to the recently installed Flock Cameras the city placed in strategic areas around town.
RELATED: Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Implements Flock Camera System
“Our guys did a great job,” Police Chief David Popwell said, “based on just a vehicle description, they were able to get license plate numbers off the Flock Cameras, trace the license plate numbers to the driver, and get a confession from the driver.”
The arrest was made at Harris’ home in Niceville less than 24 hours after the incident. Harris is now charged with [launching a] missile into a dwelling, vehicle, building or aircraft (a second-degree felony) and assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill (a third-degree felony).
Despite the arrest for allegedly shooting into someone’s car, Harris was in jail for less than an hour and a half. Okaloosa County Jail Records show he was in-processed to the jail at 10:44 PM on February 11th and released on a $2,500 bond on February 12th at 12:01 AM.
“Suprisingly, I know it’s hard to believe, he got arrested [again on Monday, February 13th] by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s [Office] for pretty much the same thing,” Popwell added.
“You don’t keep them in jail?” asked Councilman Bill Schaetzle, referring to the quick release of Harris.
“They don’t keep ‘em in jail,” Chief Popwell replied.
Christopher Harris, although just 21, has several traffic citations to his name – four since 2019, all for unlawful speed. Additionally, Harris was cited in 2019 for failure to appear in court.
Harris has a date in court with Judge Terrence Ketchel on March 14th for a plea hearing. After the hearing, should Harris not plead guilty, he will have a pretrial conference on April 10th.
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