Promoters of large organized events at Crab Island can be held criminally and financially responsible if their gatherings create dangerous conditions or require significant public safety resources, Sheriff Eric Aden warned Monday.
- The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office issued the warning after videos and images of a “Crab Island Takeover” event circulated on social media over the weekend. The agency said many of the videos in circulation are also from previous years.
In a video released Monday, Aden said organizers face exposure well beyond a citation.
“Even though it might sound good to you or it might be attractive to you to bring a group here to cause havoc, know that you’re going to be not just criminally responsible, not just cited financially for a ticket, but you could be responsible for thousands and thousands of dollars,” Aden said.
Aden said state statutes and local ordinances allow the county to charge promoters for the cost of emergency response, including EMS, fire, police services and public safety. He said partnerships with neighboring agencies that operate helicopters mean those costs can also be billed back to organizers.
Liability is not limited to events on the water, the sheriff said. After-parties held on land in connection with Crab Island gatherings can also be tied back to promoters.
- “A lot of times they have these after-party post-Crab Island events at places on land because it’s easier for them to get to and coordinate with each other, and all of those events can be tied back to the vendor and be held financially responsible, if not criminally,” Aden said.
The Sheriff’s Office said it proactively contacts organizers when it learns of planned gatherings to communicate that public safety is the top priority.
Aden said the agency’s Marine Unit works alongside the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard, which operates a station near Crab Island.
“We have lots of boats out there … and we have partnerships with FWC Fish and Wildlife, and we have the U.S. Coast Guard, and they’re right there by Crab Island, so they come out and they will help if it gets out of hand,” Aden said.
The sheriff closed with a message to visitors planning to spend time at the sandbar.
“Come, but behave,” Aden said. “Just follow the law, follow the rules that we have in place. We’re a law-abiding society, and we want you to be as well.”
In its written statement, the Sheriff’s Office said Crab Island “belongs to everyone” and that its Marine Unit, along with partner vessels, is on hand to enforce the law.
14 Responses
Start holding pontoon rental companies responsible by not letting them rent boats to people without a boater’s safety course certification and if they’re renting to those that are born after January 1 1988 then fine the owners of that company.
This could easily become way more than a rental issue. Turning the once beautiful Destin harbor into a carnival is not helping.
I vividly recall, from MANY decades ago, a handful of families anchoring their boats & enjoying the very shallow crystal clear water with their children, who all wore life vests or at least ski vests. The adults, who may have enjoyed a beer or maybe 2, conducted themselves appropriately & responsibly while enjoying the clean family atmosphere that preserved all of the young kids’ innocence. Absolutely NO ONE littered! Sadly this is no longer the case & hasn’t been for the past decade or two! Drunk adults having sex in full view of children is deplorable, whether they’re tourists or locals! They’ve ruined the old Crab Island experience for everyone else! And now we have vendors & online influencers not only encouraging out-of-control hordes of people, they’re also profiting from it! I’m delighted to see Sheriff Aden putting them on notice in advance that they will be held criminally & financially liable if the crowds they promote require the use of additional safety & law enforcement resources! If you hit them in their pocket books, perhaps the promoters will learn that it’s no longer profitable & will end their unethical, environment-damaging & dangerous promotions of Crab Island! Although I wouldn’t wish this plague on any other Florida communities, I truly hope this practice ends & they leave permanently, never to return to our beautiful Emerald Coast communities!
It is called Crab Island for a reason. It used to be covered in thousands of beautiful huge blue crabs! I remember as a child, my family; friends, grandparents, ect. Anchoring and wading with nets and buckets catching crabs. We would fill up a five gallon bucket, throwing the females with eggs back. Then going back to the slip for a wonderful crab boil. Great childhood memories!
You can’t do that anymore because of the destruction of that beautiful stretch of water.
No wonder there are no more crabs, your family took more than needed.
No, it is called Crab Island because it was an island shaped like a crab. Changes made to the East Pass caused water flow to erode the island.
This happened in Panama city beach. Thier community saw the fruits of it. -Open air rapes, open air drugs, violence and multiple shootings per weekend. Panama city put an end to it. We must protect our community or we will see the same results. Look it up.
Pontoon rental companies are the cancer of Crab Island. If you go there often, you know to stay far away from rental boats. Many renters are under the influence, have little to no awareness of boating etiquette, and often lack basic safety knowledge. This has made the area increasingly dangerous for family-oriented, law-abiding, responsible boaters who are simply trying to enjoy the water safely.
I already went in person to sheriff HQ and showed the sheriffs who one of them was and they did nothing about.
Y’all can have destin. It’s too dark for me
No need to worry. You need a boat OR you need excellent swimming skills to get to Crab Island. The “people” who largely makeup these takeovers possess neither. Lol…
Have porch monkeys taken over, I have lived in pcola my whole and they fack everything up.
We have chicken bone beach to deal with. Oh I’m 67 and born in pc9la.
pcola
Destin is ruined. Worked my whole adult life there left before it went dark.👋😎 Y’all can have it.