Four Crestview Teens In Custody After Botched Kidnapping and Home Invasion Attempt

November 8, 2017

Baker, FL – Four teenagers from Crestview are now in custody after they attempted to kidnap a Baker teenager and hold her for ransom.

According to reports, four teens armed with a knife, guns and a roll of tape planned to kidnap and rob members of a Baker family last night, but their plot didn’t go as planned and now all four are in custody. Inside their SUV deputies also found latex gloves, facial masks and dark clothing.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a possible home invasion in progress Tuesday night at approximately 10:30 pm at an address on Preservation pass in Baker, FL. The 51-year old homeowner stated his 17-year old daughter had called him to tell him that someone had blocked the road to their house with barrels. Instead of getting out of her car she drove around them. A short time later her father heard his dogs barking and saw his front motion-activated flood lights come on. He also heard what sounded like his car door closing and went to get his gun.

After spotting some individuals trying to force their way into his garage, he fired three shots and the intruders fled into the woods. He later learned they had unscrewed some of his security lights.

An alert neighbor who saw a suspicious car near her house around the same time frame quickly called in a description of the vehicle to deputies, who spotted the 2016 White Jeep Liberty on Highway 4 and made a felony traffic stop. Inside the car they found 19-year old Keilon Johnson, 17-year old Austin French, 16-year old Tyree Johnson, and 15-year old Kamauri Horn, all of Crestview.

The OCSO investigation revealed the teens had concocted a plan to kidnap the teenage daughter. The goal was to first force her out of her car by blocking the road with barrels and garbage cans. (However their intended victim drove around the barrels and kept going.) They then planned to head to her house, confront and subdue her father – who they believed to be wealthy – and rob the home.

Instead all four defendants are now charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted home invasion robbery. 19-year old Keilon Johnson was booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. The other defendants were transferred to a Department of Juvenile Justice facility.