Photo: Getty
That’s weird. I mean, it seems to us like Florida would be the one place where molesting a manatee wasn’t against the law, but hey, the more you know.
According to the Bradenton Herald, a 47-year-old homeless man was arrested last Friday after he jumped into a creek at Islamorada Library Beach and tried to ride a manatee despite a warning from an onlooker that simply making contact with one was illegal.
Photo: via Bradenton Herald
Police said they arrived on the scene after receiving a call that James Roy Massengale Jr. was in the water and “touching two adult manatees and their two calves.” The onlooker told police about warning Massengale but said he just yelled, “I’m riding it!” When police questioned Massengale, he changed his story several times before finishing with the fact that he wasn’t going to stop touching those manatees until somebody with a badge told him to do so.
Well, that’s exactly what the police did. They were also going to write him a notice to appear in court on a misdemeanor manatee violation, but Massengale said he had no intention of showing up in court and instead continually yelled, “Take me to jail!”
And again, that’s exactly what the police did.
