Florida Governor Candidate Arrested in Palm Coast

A Palm Coast resident who's filed to run for Florida Governor was arrested at his Palm Coast residence on Friday. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office took 46-year-old Kevin Cichowski into custody on eight felony charges. The FCSO received a call about a domestic disturbance on Cleveland Court in Palm Coast on the morning of Friday, April 10. They were told that a man there battered two elderly people in a residence. One was reportedly hit with a cane, while the other had a cell phone thrown at them. The caller was one of the two elderly victims, the FCSO says. They continued to say that the suspect, identified as Cichowski, threatened to kill them multiple times. He's also alleged to have said that if law enforcement responded, he'd kill them too. The caller said that Cichowski was in possession of a firearm. Deputies got to the home and found the two victims hiding in a bedroom. They reportedly said that they were unable to leave due to one of them being bedridden. All the same, deputies got both of them out of the home through the lanai. Arresting Cichowski   Once both victims were out, deputies began communicating with Cichowski. They ordered him to surrender himself, and he's said to have complied. Multiple responders had weapons drawn as they arrested Cichowski near the home's screened-in pool. He was then arrested without further incident, the FCSO says. Cichowski was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of battery on a person over 65, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, witness tampering, and two counts of robbery by sudden snatching. As deputies were transporting Cichowski to the county jail, he's said to have begun making suicidal statements. At this point he was placed under Baker Act protective custody. As of Monday he's still listed as being in custody. "When responding to a situation where a suspect has a weapon and has threatened to kill the victims and law enforcement, it's critical that we do everything we can to safely de-escalate the situation and quickly rescue the victims from immediate danger," said Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly. "I commend our deputies, [Real Time Crime Center] analysts, and the 911 dispatchers for working together for a safe resolution and arrest the suspect before the situation escalated to a violent ending." Kevin Cichowski's Background Kevin Cichowski is presently filed as a candidate in the 2026 Florida gubernatorial election. He's listed as a Democrat in his filing with the Florida Department of State, but as of now there's little indication he's waging a serious campaign. Cichowski also filed to run in the 2021 Palm Coast special mayoral election, but dropped out early in the race. In October 2025, Cichowski was placed on trial for domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and misdemeanor domestic battery. He was accused of attacking his wife at their Cleveland Court residence 13 months prior. After two days, a jury found him not guilty of each count. Cichowski has no other arrests on record in Flagler County.