'Lieutenant Dan' who refused to leave his boat during deadly hurricane has been arrested in Florida
Joseph Malinowski, nicknamed Lieutenant Dan, was arrested in Tampa and taken to jail after surviving on his boat during the deadly storm.
Tampa Police confirmed to TMZ that they hauled off the viral TikTok star to jail for a number of reasons, leaving his boat in the bay.
You might remember that Malinowski quickly became a star on social media, after he refused to leave his fishing boat, where he lives, despite being warned about the impending Hurricane Milton.
The devastating weather event made landfall earlier this month in Sarasota County with 120 mph winds, with US officials asking residents to evacuate or stay inside of their homes for their own safety.
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However, Malinowski did neither and took an unconventional route.
Speaking to a Sky News reporter at the time, he said: “Five years ago, God put on my heart Tampa Bay and get a boat and that is what I am doing.
“I am here for God.
“He told me to be here so I am here.”
When the reporter asked him if he was anxious, he replied: “I am in a boat, and there is water coming in, I am going to go up with the water and when the water goes out I am going to go down.
“As long as I keep the water out of the inside of my boat, I’ll be fine.”
Police confirmed to TMZ that the sailor has been charged with two outstanding warrants.
One for his failure to appear in court, and one misdemeanor charge of trespassing in a city park after being warned.
Tampa PD claimed they met with Lieutenant Dan at Bayshore Linear Park and Dock on Thursday October 17 and told him that he did not have an accessible marine sanitation device on his boat.
They also shared they warned him that he didn't have a record of proper disposal of waste as so needed to move his boat as out of the Park as it was a public health hazard.
However, when they went to check on him the very next morning, he was still there and so they arrested him.
Lieutenant Dan's representative, Brandon Gilchrist, told the outlet that his team is working on getting him bailed out.
The viral star rose to fame after surviving the storm and he said he'd 'had more eventful nights' than the one spent in a hurricane’s path.
He even said it wasn’t worst than the time he spent with storm Helene.
He said: “I did the same thing I am doing right now. The wind came out of the west right here and pushed me to the east, so I was over the water, and I just watched it go up.
“I went to sleep at 12:30, I woke up at 5 o'clock in the morning.
“I’m worried about [my boat] getting scratched up, that's it, that is the worst that is going to happen.”
In regards to Hurricane Milton, he said ‘it was uneventful. It was nice. It was mellow'.
Britt Jones