An excerpt from the book, “Some Gave All,” available on Amazon.
By Mike Simmons
Anthony Edward “Tony” Forgione was born on August 21, 1974, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. By his high school years, his family had moved to the small beach town of Niceville, Florida in the panhandle. He was a good-looking, popular kid in high school, graduating in 1992. In 1997, he met the lady that he fell in love with, Jessica Martin. They were married on June 7, 1997. In 2005, he began working as a deputy sheriff with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Mark Reed Rohlman was a native of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He graduated from Choctawhatchee High School in 1979. From 1989 to 2006, Rohlman started up four businesses. But his mental problems caused a circuit judge to order that he undergo a mental evaluation.
On Monday, July 21, 2008, under court order, a deputy with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office picked Rohlman up and transported him to Bridgeway Center, Inc. Not being a secure facility, he walked out. Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to find him and to return him to the Center. Again, the deputies did their job. But after only a few minutes, he walked away again.
After the second walkout, he somehow armed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun and barricaded himself in his childhood home in Fort Walton Beach. Hostage negotiators and members of the Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team – including Tony – were summoned. They arrived at the scene within minutes.
The SWAT team was forced to resort to the last option – entry into the house. As soon as Tony came into his view, Rohlman blasted him with a 12-gauge shotgun. The shot was fatal to Tony. Rohlman then killed himself with a shotgun blast as well[1].
The Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office would never be the same again. The hallways were different, the dispatchers were different, the investigators were different, the records clerks were different, and the atmosphere was different. In fact, Okaloosa Sheriff Charlie Morris would never be the same. One of his deputies, one of his professional family members had been tragically taken.
The funeral was held on July 28, 2008. The casket was displayed in the church directly in front of the pulpit on the platform. Prior to the service, two deputies – members of the department’s volunteer honor guard – were stationed on each end of the casket, one at the head and one at the foot. Each deputy, immaculately dressed in the department’s dress uniform, but with gloves, honor guard belts, shoulder cords, and hats, stood like a sentinel, watching over his fallen comrade. Representatives from over 100 law enforcement agencies were present. Over 2000 people descended on the church in the small Florida town.
In 2009, the Florida House of Representatives introduced, and the Florida Senate approved the Mental Illness/Deputy Anthony Forgione Act. The law now requires a law enforcement agency that transports persons to a receiving facility to have a memorandum of understanding with the facility[2]. Requires that custody of a person who is transported to a receiving or treatment facility be relinquished to a responsible person at the facility. It specifies that a psychiatric examination by certain personnel be conducted face-to-face, in person or by electronic means, etc.
Every year since 2009, the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office has held the area’s annual SWAT competition event in Tony’s honor. After Tony’s death, the Shalimar Bridge on State Road 85 South (Eglin Parkway) over Garnier’s Bayou was named “Deputies Tony Forgione and Bill Myers Memorial Bridge” by the 2018 Florida Legislature.
Anthony Forgione is an example of a man who gave his all to serve his community. He was certainly a man of talent and intelligence, but more than that, he was a man of character.
[1] Pensacola News Journal, https://www.newspapers.com/image/267955737/?terms=Forgione&match=1
[2] Northwest Florida Daily News, https://www.nwfdailynews.com/story/news/2017/07/22/honoring-deputys-sacrifice-on-9-year-anniversary-of-death/20098523007/