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Subscribe to RSSAn ice cream shop's business is frozen after passersby mistake their vanilla cone mascot for a Ku Klux Klansman. WESH-TV's Amanda Ober reports.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Did you hear about the giant Lego man that washed up on Siesta Key beach? What about the man who walked into a bar, ordered a beer and disappeared for 30 minutes to rob a bank, only to return and finish his drink? Or how about the puzzling story of the baby grand piano that showed up on a sandbar near Miami?
That's Florida, where weird is an everyday event.
Vote: What was the weirdest headline of the year?
Over the past year, a 92-year-old woman fired four shots at a neighbor who refused to kiss her, a Delray Beach man cut off a piece of a dead whale that washed ashore — planning to eat it — and an 8-year-old girl gave her teacher some marijuana and said: "This is some of my mom's weed."
An Elderly Florida man bashes a would-be burglar with cast iron cookware. NBC's Monica Landeros reports.
The piano was a mystery for about a month. On Jan. 1, 2011, the charred instrument showed up on a Biscayne Bay sandbar, a couple hundred yards from shore. A 16-year-old student eventually admitted he put it there as part of an art project. A day after it was removed, someone set up a table with two chairs, place settings and a bottle of wine.
Huge dolphin jumps into Florida charter boat, striking a woman on board. WBBH's Elizabeth Billingsley reports.
It's still not clear how the 100-pound, 8-foot-tall Lego man washed ashore. The local tourism bureau hoped to use Lego man to promote the area, but the man who found it has placed a claim on it. He can keep it if the owner doesn't collect it before early next year. As for the bar-bank robber, he was arrested at his watering hole, not too long after the holdup.
Enough oddities have happened in the Sunshine State for The Associated Press to write an end-of-year opus about it, but editors here at msnbc.com find themselves amazed by news out of Florida every day.
Let's start with the animals. At the Miami airport, a Brazilian trying to get through security was caught with several baby pythons and tortoise hatchlings in his underwear. A man stored his dead cougar in a freezer. A sheriff's deputy answering a call about a 7-foot gator in a country club got more than he bargained for when the beast attacked his patrol car, chomping down on the front bumper.
At least those are more tame than some of the crime stories. There was the 81-year-old man who claimed to be a doctor and went door-to-door offering complementary breast exams to women; there was the "Fix-a-Flat" butt injection scam in which a toxic concoction that promised to enhance women's buttocks was being pumped into their behinds; and there was the 92-year-old woman who allegedly fired a weapon at a man simply because he refused to kiss her.
Police say two managers at a Domino's Pizza restaurant in Lake City, Fla., torched their rival pizza shop, a Papa John's, to increase sales. WTLV-TV's Erich Spivey reports.
Author Tim Dorsey, whose novels include Florida strangeness both real and fantasy, told The Associated Press the state is an odd place because of its diverse, highly transient population.
A Florida woman is accused of keeping her husband's death a secret while cashing Social Security checks. WPTV's Giovanna Drpic reports.
"There's pockets of strangeness all over the country, but here it's a baseline lifestyle. There, it's the aberration. There, it's the tail end of the bell curve. Here, it's the peak of the bell curve," Dorsey said.
Young people made up a large part of the peculiar tales.
In Palm Beach County, an elementary school teacher opened an end-of-the-year gift from an 8-year-old student's grandmother and found toiletries and a loaded handgun. A Tampa woman upset with her 15-year-old son's bad grades forced him to stand on a street corner with a sign that read: "Honk if I need an education."
A 15-year-old Florida Keys girl who is a big fan of the "Twilight" books and movies was afraid that her mother would get upset by the bite marks her boyfriend gave her after they acted out her vampire fantasy. She made up a story about being attacked; doubtful investigators got her to tell the truth.
Deputies arrested an 18-month-old's father after they found the man passed out in his mobile home while the toddler was in the yard picking up beer cans and drinking them.
Pasco County deputies said a woman walked into a bank with a 3-year-old boy and robbed it. A homeless man held up a Tampa bank, fled on a city bus and handed out stolen cash to passengers.
And while he didn't rob it, an unhappy Palm Coast bank customer left quite a deposit. He urinated in a drive-thru bank tube and
drove off.
In north-central Florida, an Ocala ice cream shop got rid of its costumed mascot — a waving vanilla cone — because passers-by kept mistaking him for a hooded Ku Klux Klansman.
In unusual crime stories, two managers of a Lake City Domino's Pizza were charged with burning down a rival Papa John's as a way to increase business. Two deaf men using sign language were stabbed at a Hallandale Beach bar when another costumer thought they were flashing gang signs.
And finally, a North Naples man who was pulled over for a traffic violation called 911 and reported a shooting nearby to get out of a ticket. He still got a ticket and was also charged with making a false 911 call.
We've compiled Florida's finest headlines, including "Inventor rolls out 'handled' condom" and "Florida couple shares home with 15 skunks," here. Vote on the weirdest.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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- Detroit churches face up to downsizing
- Butt injections, fee breast exams: Florida's 2011
- South Pole 'miracle': Record heat, plus snow, on Christmas
- $6 billion-a-year ethanol subsidy dies -- but wait …
Leave a Comment:
Not to mention the woman who was pulled over in Cudjoe Key for shaving her privates while driving.
That's a HOOt !!!! LMAO .
She was a cut above the rest!
Don't forget the Miami Poe poe vs the State troopers. They are ridiculous!
I liked the one where 2 old couples were playing cards just after their dessert and the man of the house got up from his chair went into his bedroom and got a gun and shot and killed his male guest for cheating..OMG only in Florida ...
Yeah, she was shaving two solid lines. It was a no passing lane!
She should have been arrested for advancing the extinction of the bearded clam...
Thats true. You can't forget the turf war between Miami PD vs state troopers. LOL
And the trooper cruiser covered in cr@p. Literally.
@Bubba:
Hope she weren't cut below the belt.
My favorite sunshine state oddity of the year still has to be the "vampire" attack on the wheelchair-bound homeless guy outside an abandoned Hooters. The "Johnny Law" feud in South FL is a close 2nd.
This is why I miss that place!!! LOL
Florida...enough said!!!
Floriduh, It would be nice if all the northeners would go back where they came from.
another reason NOT to visit florida....
Hey Mary52,
Still beats going to Mexico to die...
I don't know, I've been to Miami and it was nice. Just make sure you don't go during "Urban Week."
Hey short, that leaves only one week available!
Mary52.....GOOD...we don't want you coming here trying to get our jobs because your cigarette factory shut down!!!!!!!
casey anthony... nuff said!
Definitely don't come to Florida!! Stay home and vacation somewhere else because outside of the amusement parks, no one wants you here. Do we come and invade Ohio?LOL nope. Them don't do it to us. Most of these wackos are those of you coming from other parts of the country to live here. If you and your grandparents will stay away, so will our wacko citizens.
A real freak show, yessiree!
I have a sister in law that live there now I know why.
Me to Bubba..I always wondered why she moved there??? LOL.
Not to mention that fact that we elected Rick Scott as Governor. Casey Anthony, but I guess those are previous years.
They forgot about the fried rat causing a street light to go out and a driver hit the group of people gathered around the rat.
I believe that's how it goes.
Maybe he thought they killed his pet!
Katherine Harris.
Allen West.
Marco Rubio.
Rick Scott.
Need I say more?
Very proud of all of them. Hopefully, you don't live here, so..................stop your whining!
I live here and can honestly say it's embarassing. Florida seems to attrack more than it's fair share of nut jobs, from politicians to "regular" people. Perhaps we should require a test and refuse entry to the stupid; or expel people as too stupid to live here when they do this stuff. Sadly, our warm weather is quite the attraction for con artists and their ilk. We're hosting the 2012 RNC here in Tampa, what more do you need to know?
Commander - you're proud?! Are you a crook too??!! If so, my mistake, carry on.
Shut Yer Yap - I look at those four names and all I can say is, stay classy Florida.
dazed and amazed---florida and california are the destination of choice for criminals on the run and degenerates looking for an easy life style. i think they have decided that these states have so many weird people that they will blend in. most avoid texas for fear of the texas prison system. i live in san diego and we have strange things happening all the time and most of the people involved are running from some trouble or just avoiding cold weather.
Its the heat. Makes people crazy.
Dazed - you said it, but you also said the main piece "We attract the worst and weirdest". Meaning these freaks are from the north and want to come enjoy our weather. How do we keep them away and force into their peeheads that we dont want them
Ah Florida - is there ANYTHING you can't do?
Yes but it would be legal
Well, the state finally passed a law against beastiality in 2011, so there's at least one thing you can't (legally at least) do.
We also have a Nazi governor, Rick Scott (Republican of course), who wants to turn state parks into golf courses (he's a real Job Creator) and turn major Florida universities into trade techs. There is also a Republican state representative who made it his mission in life to repeal a Florida law banning drarf tossing. State Child Protective Services loses about 300 children in their system per year due to low funding and staff cuts. These idiots here keep voting for these guys and the state is a disaster.
And let's not even get started on Ricky's destruction of Florida public schools! I moved back to the midwest six months ago - best decision I've ever made.
Pink Slip Rick!!
I don't miss Florida. it is a state of rejects and deadbeats. nothing but crime and cheap amusement parks to take your money.
"As for the bar-bank robber, he was arrested at his watering hole, not too long after the holdup."
I hope the police at least gave in time to finish his beer. Beer isn't readily available in prison.
Harrykid you forgot the low wage scale in Florida it sucks. If you can find a job they don't pay much more than min. wage.
Florida residents come from ALL over the USA - and the world - so why is it a surprise that so many weird things would happen in FL?????
I live in Florida-Tampa Bay (born and raised) and us natives must constantly hear about all the wackadoos in Florida..what they don't tell you in the articles is over half of the wackadoos are from up north and moved here after a vacation with parents. We do not take credit for all the Florida nuts we have to give alot of credit to GA, TN, KY, OH and even New York! LOL alot from Ohio....
Wow! I am a "true" Floridian, too; somewhat of a rare breed. :) Born and raised here. I had no idea the state was considered so weird and wacky. No doubt it's due to the thousands of transplants who visit and retire here from up north, and the transients who visit the state, primarily in the southern region. And thousands come every year from all over the world to soak in the beautiful sunshine and beaches.
It's really not fair to judge an entire state by these stories. A lot of them would have never even been known by the public at large, if not for the Internet. And if you look hard enough, which is what a lot of media outlets do, you will find strange and chilling stories all across America. Just check out the Daily Mail!
Well I guess all the people from up north must have had there intelligence frozen in until they got to your wounder State then it just baked them into idiots!
P.Cool, true.
Florida is a big state, and I can say that some areas are just full of inbred "native" locals that give trailer trash a bad name. Other areas are quite nice.
I look at Florida the same way I'd look at the corner bar in a raunchy part of town. Bloody fights every single night, people coming out schnockered and driving drunk, trash strewn everywhere, biker and gang hangout, you name it. Which is easier - call the cops for every single incident or close down the problem bar?
I just want to say, I was born and raised here and I have no first-hand accounts of weird things happening, but I will say that most people that live here, aren't from here. Weird things might happen, but that's because of out-of-state crazies moving here. Tourist season is the best time to see people do stupid stuff. Too bad we need the money.
BTW... We didn't all vote for Rick Scott, but remember... most people who live here, moved here from other places... Stop sending us your crazies!
lol looks like we are on the same page...I also did not vote for Rick Scott!
Loffen, of course you have no first-hand accounts of weird things happening! You said it your self, you were born and raised there, it's just everyday life to you!
Rick Scott's legacy will be the further dumbing down of our state.
Hey, I moved from Alabama to Florida then found out we didn't know how to punch ballots and count! And I always thought Alabama was funny. You got to love the weirdness. Keeps the news interesting. I especially loved the woman shaving her privates while driving. Too funny!
And, of course, there is Serge and Coleman
You know the saying "the farther south you go in Florida the farther north you are".
Except for Miami, in which you need a passport and NO ONE speaks the language.
Dazed that's true I stopped at a service station in Miami & the attendant couldn't even speak english.
Florida is a state's version of multiple-personality disorder. On the one hand you've got the great beaches and atmosphere that go with a tropical adult playground while on the other you've got the state that was one of the biggest contributors to both of Bush's stolen elections. From creative geniuses like Dave Barry and Jimmy Buffett (maybe not native born Floridians, I don't recall but definitely native sons by length of residence and contributions and observations of the culture) to the lowest depths of drug and gang crime and condo, etc. development greed gone wild Florida will never call forth neutral opinions. The best you can do is either take the bad with the good or leave it to those who will take it as it is. I'm not someone living there but if I had the resources to put up with the hurricanes, avoid the more insane of the crime spots and live in the good weather spots, I would try to adapt to Florida as I wouldn't mind mostly mild snowless winters for the rest of my life.
Great Weather.
I almost choked on my water upon reading this line, too funny! Ahhh Florida, what would we do without you?
If you were in Florida you would have gotten shot because they would have thought you were laughing at them not choking!
Two hillbillies Ed and Red walk into a bar. While having a shot of whiskey, they talk about their moonshine operation.
Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich begins to cough. After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress.
One of the hillbillies looks at her and says, "Kin ya swallar?"
The woman shakes her head no. "Kin ya breathe?"
The woman begins to turn blue and shakes her head no.
The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up the back of her dress, yanks down her drawers and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his tongue. The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm and the obstruction flies out of her mouth.
As she begins to breathe again, the hillbilly walks slowly back to the bar. His partner says, Ya know, I've heard of that there 'Hind Lick Maneuver', but I ain't never seen nobody do it!"
Hey that's nothing, check out our Cone head Governor. His corp. screwed Medicare now he runs a state full of old people and wacos. Now, C. Loffin do you read the newspaper or watch the news. I.m not saying all crazies are here, but I heard years ago you could come to Fl and escape your past and start over. Well, there still coming.
Stay classy, Florida!
Florida can't hold a candle next to the redneck weirdness of Texas!
Just remember, Texas provides us with Ted Nugent, Joe Barton, Warren Jeffs, Dubya AND Rick Perry.
Even, Planters Peanuts doesn't offer such a fine variety of mixed nuts as Texas.
California has the most wack-jobs and weirdness...And sadly, Florida may be a mess (like most of the country) but there are plenty of states in worse over-all shape. California being one.
I think Washington DC holds the record for wacko's.
I thought Ted Nugent came from Detroit the Motor City! Don't knock him his axe can blow you away from 30 States!
Texas is plain ol' DUMB!
I believe Ted Nugent is a Michigander (sp) He just moved to Texas a few years ago.
Dubya was originally from Connecticut, so Texas gets a pass the same way Florida gets a pass for all their non-native wackadoodles.
Bubba I just saw him on tv last night. He calls his guitar the White Buffalo. The first concert I ever saw was Ted Nugent & Amboy Dukes around 1971.