Lieutenant Dan is becoming quite the folk hero. If you've been online the past few days, you've no doubt heard about the viral Florida man who has gripped the nation with his steadfast determination to ride out Hurricane Milton in a sailboat in Tampa Bay. Officials were pleading with Lieutenant Dan, whose real name is Joseph Malinowski, to evacuate the boat that he calls home and head to a shelter. But the one-legged veteran refused, and even compared himself to Noah riding out the storm in his ark:
“I’m not going anywhere. The safest place to be in a flood is on a boat. Okay? We learned that with Noah. Everyone that stayed on land drowned. Noah and the animals lived. I’m fine.” https://twitter.com/BrianEntin/status/1844028080618393818 The mayor of Tampa even threatened to take Malinowski into custody "for his own good," but eventually the storm passed through - and just like he predicted, Lieutenant Dan made it out the other side safe and sound in his boat. Although if he had been taken into custody, it would hardly be the first time... As the legend of this particular Florida man has grown on the internet this week, people started digging into his background and found that Lieutenant Dan is actually quite the colorful character. Of course that's pretty obvious based on his answer to how he lost his leg:
“16 years old, and I was a virgin. I was going to change it that day. Me and my girlfriend had it all worked out. A nd on the way to her house, I’m driving my scooter, and I took my eyes off the road for a second. I had just stopped at the jewelry store and picked up a gold chain for her, I’m on my way to her house, and we had a family friend that owned a gas station… so I took my eyes off the ro ad to see who was working that day, and when I came back around… a car stopped right in front of me. I ran into him doing about 45, went up, hit my leg on the back windshield, shattered that, broke my femur, had a compound tib and fib fracture.” But as luck would have it, a “beautiful blonde girl” saw it all happen, and rushed over to comfort him. Joseph says it was in that moment that he knew he would be just fine:
“As I’m laying in the middle of the street, and I’m hearing cars screech, this beautiful blonde showed up net to me. and she kneeled down beside me and started stroking my hair, I had hair then, nobody comment. And she puts her left hand on my thigh, and she’s telling me everything is going to be okay, everything’s gonna be fine, you’re gonna be okay. and she’s looking my dead in my eye, and I just knew that I was gonna be alright, and I’m expecting to be home in time for dinner.” Classic Lieutenant Dan. Well we've also got an idea of what he's been up to since he turned 16 - including, as it appears, multiple visits to jail. The internet quickly dug into Malinowski's background, and uncovered at least 15 mugshots in Florida for the folk hero: https://twitter.com/MikMilks_/status/1844252753763402157 But that's not all: He appears to have at least 28 mugshots in North Carolina. https://twitter.com/_AaronRyan/status/1844439542209839499 Now, other than a couple of charges of battery, it looks like most of Malinowski's arrests have been for outstanding warrants or petty crimes like no drivers license. Nothing major. (There was a rumor going around online that he had been arrested for more serious charges in Wisconsin, but those charges were another man with the same name). And for folks online, apparently his lengthy rap sheet only adds to the legend of Lieutenant Dan: https://twitter.com/Blackfingers63/status/1844386586508902754 https://twitter.com/Jax_A_Dull_Boy/status/1844414486012363087 https://twitter.com/franksfvckbitch/status/1844367867632025698 https://twitter.com/AirFlawdaJordan/status/1844400052850262062 The ultimate Florida man indeed.
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