Florida man: Wildest real-life tales in Sunshine State
'Florida Man' at it again and again and again ...
"Florida Man" is always in the headlines, for new outlandish reasons, shocking crimes or other bizarre turns of events on a daily basis.
Last week, a drive-by shooting in Jacksonville wounded one making his way down the street on a scooter. In March, Marion County deputies arrested a man accused of slapping a woman across the face with a hot slice of pizza. And in Volusia County, authorities just arrested a naked burglar they say was high on "unknown substances" while wearing nothing but "peppermint oil."
There's even a Twitter account dedicated to the latest Florida Man updates, which include a man with a leaf blower, a mop bucket and a dream of getting from one end of a parking lot to the other.
That's where we learned that early Saturday morning a Florida man in The Villages wanted an officer's attention so bad he allegedly fired three shots into the air at a Circle K gas station to get it.
FLORIDA BODYBUILDER IAN BAUNACH CHARGED WITH EX'S MURDER AFTER POLICE FIND BONES IN BACKYARD ‘BURN PILE’
Charles McDowell is a Florida man who went viral for his mug shot in 2018, shown on the right. He was arrested again on charges of aggravated stalking in November. (Escambia County Sheriff's Office)
There is a Miami OnlyFans model awaiting trial on murder charges in the stabbing death of her live-in boyfriend at a luxury high-rise. A Florida man was accused of abandoning CPR efforts on an overdosing woman and then smashing up her home security system in an effort to conceal his presence. Another Florida man was arrested at the home of TikTok's "Island Boys" on murder charges last February.
And a Florida man in Miami Gardens wound up in handcuffs after pulling a gun on a Starbucks worker in a dispute over cream cheese for his bagel. The victim was the local police chief's daughter.
FLORIDA MAN PAID BUM $100 TO ATTACK GIRLFRIEND, VISITED HER IN HOSPITAL, POLICE SAY
With a new Netflix series by the same name, there's been a renewed interest in pop culture about the real-life cases behind the moniker. Here are some of the wildest real-life Florida man tales.
5. Florida man and grandson fish up two .50-cal sniper rifles while magnet fishing
In February 2022, Miami-area grandfather Duane Smith took his then-11-year-old grandson Allen Cadwalader magnet fishing off a bridge over the C-102 Canal in Homestead.
"We ended up with two pounds of scrap metal and 40 pounds of gun," he told Fox News Digital days later.
That's because his grandson reeled in two .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifles that had been wrapped up in plastic and left at the bottom of the canal. Both serial numbers had been filed off.
Allen Cadwalader reeled in two .50-caliber M82A1 Barrett sniper rifles from a canal in Miami-Dade County while magnet fishing with his grandfather in February 2022. (Courtesy: Duane Smith)
FLORIDA BOY HAULS IN TWO .50-CALIBER BARRETT SNIPER RIFLES ON FISHING TRIP
"The rifles consisted of the lower receiver and bolt carrier group," he said. "I did not recognize them when they were pulled out because they were wrapped like a mummy."
He estimated the guns were worth about $10,000 each but handed them over to police willingly.
It was the duo’s first time trying out magnet fishing. They used a double-sided magnet with 2,600 pounds of pull – or 1,300 on each side.
WATCH: Florida man fights off bear to protect dogs
PALM BEACH POLICE INVESTIGATING FLIERS TELLING ‘WOKE’ NEW YORKERS TO STAY OUT OF FLORIDA
4. ‘Deadly weapon’: Wendy’s drive-thru alligator attack
In October 2015, then-24-year-old Florida man Joshua James was accused of assault with a deadly weapon after wildlife officials said he launched a 3.5-foot alligator through a drive-thru window at a Palm Beach Wendy's, horrifying the clerk, who jumped out the window.
No one was hurt – not even the alligator, which Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officials returned to its native habitat.
The whole thing was captured on the fast-food restaurant's surveillance cameras.
WATCH: Man tosses live alligator through drive-thru window
3. Gone Postal: Florida man lands gyrocopter on Capitol grounds in DC
In April 2015, Florida postal worker Douglas Hughes landed a gyrocopter on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. He later pleaded guilty to operating the aircraft without a license.
According to a report from the Associated Press, Hughes pulled off the stunt to protest big money in politics.
Nov. 20, 2015: Douglas Hughes, who flew a gyrocopter through the National Mall before landing on Capitol, arrives for a plea hearing at the federal courthouse in Washington. (AP)
He was reportedly carrying letters addressed to each member of Congress in his flight from Pennsylvania to the Capitol lawn.
WATCH: Florida man saves dog from alligator
2. Florida man arrested after allegedly performing botched castration on man
"This one is a little … let’s just say sensitive," the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said in a press release in August 2019, announcing the arrest of Gary Van Ryswyk.
After dispatchers received a 911 call that was cut short, they sent deputies to an address in Sebring, about 90 miles east of Tampa.
They found a man in bed, holding a towel on his groin and bleeding out.
"Nearby, there was a pink container which held two body parts that had recently been much closer to the victim," the sheriff's office said.
Gary Van Ryswyk, 74, performed a botched castration surgery on a man inside his home, authorities said. (Highlands County Sheriff's Office)
Van Ryswyk built a makeshift surgery room in the home, authorities said, equipped with medical equipment, painkillers and a camera to record the procedure. He was charged with practicing medicine without a license resulting in bodily injury, a second-degree felony.
1. Miami zombie attack: Lunatic attacks homeless guy and chews off his face
The Florida man who put Florida man on the map, a Florida man, initially believed to be high on bath salts, attacked a homeless man and bit chunks out of his face before responding officers shot him dead.
Rudy Eugene (L) and Ronald Poppo are seen in this combination of undated handout photos released by the Miami-Dade Police Department May 30, 2012. Eugene was fatally shot by police after he refused to stop gnawing on Poppo's face and may have been under the influence of a new form of the 1960s hallucinatory drug LSD, a top police officer said. (REUTERS/Miami-Dade Police Department/Handout)
Rudy Eugene, 31, ditched his car near a Miami overpass and took off on foot. He ran into Ronald Poppo, a 65-year-old homeless man, stripped naked and bit off his face.
Police gunned down the crazed cannibal, who by then had ripped out the victim's eyes and bitten off half his face.
FLORIDA MAN SHOT GIRLFRIEND, BURNED CORPSE AND SCATTERED REMAINS THROUGH 2,700-ACRE COMPOUND, COPS ALLEGEPoppo, who survived, reflected on the attack in an interview with police, according to the Miami New Times.
"He attacked me," Poppo said. "He just ripped me to ribbons. He chewed up my face. He plucked out my eyes. Basically, that's all there is to say about it."
Honorable mention
A man at Sparkman Wharf in Tampa wears a shirt showing his fears of Florida losing its freedoms as newcomers flood the state. "Don't move here. Your state's great." (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
Florida Man stories have also included heroics, including those of men saving their beloved pets from wild animals, ranging from alligators and bears to a runaway emu.
WATCH: Florida man found naked in a chicken coop after allegedly stealing a car, killing a dog, and chasing a man with an ax
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, a defense contractor won praise for using a 3D printer to make face shields for hospital workers.
A brave 10-year-old girl from Fort Lauderdale escaped two kidnapping attempts in as many days in October.
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