Florida’s viral sensation “Lieutenant Dan,” a man who gained internet fame for riding out Hurricane Milton on his 22-foot sailboat, is behind bars in Tampa.
Joseph Malinowski was arrested Friday for trespassing and failure to appear in court on previous charges of operating an unregistered vehicle and not having a valid driver’s license, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrest records. He was taken into custody around 7:30 a.m. at Bayshore Linear Park and Dock.
The day prior, 54-year-old Malinowski was approached by officers, who voiced concerns about his boat’s lack of a sewage discharge system and the potential health hazard it posed.
He told them he “did not have an accessible marine sanitation device aboard his unregistered vessel and did not have record of proper disposal of waste,” Verliz Williams, a public information officer with the Tampa Police Department, told People.
Malinowski was told to leave the park, but remained despite “numerous warnings” from authorities, Williams said. He was arrested and booked into Orient Road Jail, and his boat was also impounded.
Hillsborough County records described Malinowski as a “transient” individual whose occupation is listed as “TikTok Star.”
Malinowski became an internet sensation after he ignored evacuation orders issued in the days before Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida’s coast as a Category 3 storm. Despite the fierce winds and torrential rain brought by the storm, Malinowski described the weather as “pretty mellow,” even after his boat was tossed into a harbor wall.
“I’m not scared of anything,” Malinowski told CBS after Milton.
“I’ve been in Florida for five years, stuck on the East Coast,” he added. “I found this boat for 1,200 bucks. I bought it. I come to Tampa, and guess what? Can’t flood, not today, not yesterday.”
His nickname, “Lieutenant Dan,” comes from the movie “Forrest Gump,” in which a character of the same name rides out a hurricane aboard his boat.
With News Wire Services
