CRESTVIEW, Fla., June 27, 2024—A tense situation with a man barricaded inside his north Crestview area home with children present was resolved peacefully after an approximate eight-hour standoff today.

Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies went to a home on Barberee Drive around 6:40 a.m. to serve a felony warrant.

Michael Loy Pechacek, 49, was wanted for making written threats to kill or do bodily injury and use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony.

Investigators said Pechacek has made numerous threats toward law enforcement and government officials since January of this year. A threat was emailed to the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis Saturday with a subject line of “death to law enforcement and civilian populous imminent.”

Pechacek claimed he had proof of government officials tampering with evidence in a child abuse case. 

OCSO crisis unit negotiators and other OCSO specialty units were on scene to convince Pechacek to come out of the home willingly. He did so around 3:15 p.m.

Escamba County Sheriff’s Office, Crestview Police Department and Fort Walton Beach Police Department assisted OCSO with this event.

In addition to today’s arrest, Pechacek was arrested in 2021 for grand theft, in 2020 for domestic battery by strangulation and child cruelty, and in 2018 for domestic violence threat.

Staff and Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office news release