Deschaine In Court This Week – New Niceville Chief Makes Report to City Council

The accused killer of Mike Ledford, Dylan Deschaine, will make a felony plea appearance in court Tuesday - Meanwhile the new Niceville Police Chief updates the council on crime in the city for February.

Interim Niceville Police Chief Rob Lovering updated the city council on the latest crime stats for February.

“Thank you for allowing me to come to the city of Niceville; it starts a lot of conversations when I tell people where I’m at, and it is nice,” Lovering told the council.

A total of 10 arrests were made by the department’s 30+ officers for the month, including the arrest of Dylan Deschaine for the murder of Mike Ledford on February 11th.

City Mayor Daniel Henkel recognized A Niceville Police Officer, Christopher Fulford, for his efforts to save Ledford’s life in the aftermath of the incident that took place near the CVS on John Sims Parkway.

Deschaine will make an appearance in court Tuesday afternoon for a felony plea hearing.

The department saw far fewer calls for assistance than usual – at 2380. A typical month has 1,100 more – but the number continues to show a downward trend in calls for help to the department overall.

The department responded to 34 traffic crashes in the city limits—about ten fewer crashes than normal. Chief Lovering noted that 74 vehicles were involved in those accidents.

In February, 204 traffic citations were issued. The department also arrested three people for DUI, the highest number of DUI arrests in a single month since February 2022.

Fire Chief Tommy Mayville brought good news on the local drug war – his firefighters did not have to use Narcan to revive any overdoses within city limits in the month of February. This is the first time since the council began requesting more information about the drugs issue that the department has not had to revive anyone suspected of overdosing on drugs.