For Immediate Release

January 12, 2018

Santa Rosa Beach, Fla—  A steak salesman is now behind bars after he was identified as a suspect in a package theft.

On January 10, 2018, at 7:30pm, deputies were called to S. Church Street in Santa Rosa Beach in reference to a theft. The caller advised a man in a white older model Chevrolet pickup with a white deep freezer in the truck bed stopped at his residence a few days prior trying to sell steaks. He told the salesman he did not want any steak and the subject left.

The male returned Wednesday and knocked on the door. The homeowner looked out the window and realized it was the same salesman as before and did not answer the door. He then saw the subject placing a cardboard box into the bed of his truck from the porch.

After calling around to several steak delivery services, deputies were able to identify the suspect in this case as Tim Porter, 42, of Panama City Beach.

January 11^th two off-duty deputies were traveling west toward Destin when they saw the vehicle matching the description of the suspect’s truck from the burglary. The driver, positively identified as Porter, pulled into the Walmart where he was approached by WCSO and Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputies.  Porter admitted to the theft and was subsequently arrested for the burglary and petit theft.

The stolen property was recovered and given back to the victim.

“We ask that our residents remain vigilant,” said Sheriff Michael Adkinson. “Just days before this incident we received a notice from Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office regarding the same kind of scheme; someone hoping to sell steaks and stealing packages. Our patrol deputies and investigators did a fantastic job putting this case to rest and identifying suspects in the SRCSO case.”