Florida man challenge: What was the headline the day you were born? – Daytona Beach News-Journal
It is tough to argue. Florida is the epicenter of bizarre news stories. For proof, one need look no further than the “Florida Man” website.
This week, a trend that made headlines in 2019 resurfaced on Reddit, giving old Florida Man stories a chance to rise again. The “Florida Man Birthday Challenge” lets you know what strange things have happened on your birth date.
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So part of The News-Journal staff, including our editors and reporters, decided to take the challenge and check out the headlines on their birthdays. Here they are, along with one or two extra local headlines.
This first one happened on an editor’s birthday, Feb. 3.
A man with the state of Florida tattooed on his head was arrested in 2021 after calling 911 for a ride home.
According to the website, Pasco County sheriff’s deputies said the man called the emergency dispatch number and cursed at the operator when he declined the request. A deputy met with the man and asked to call a taxi. But the man said he did not have money and he would walk home.
He called 911 again saying he wanted to go home. Sheriff’s deputies arrested him and also found marijuana in his possession.
This story happened on a reporter’s birthday on Feb. 10.
A Palm Beach County man was arrested in 2016 for hurling an alligator through a Wendy’s drive-thru window.
He had found the 3-and-a-half foot alligator by the side of the road and put it in his car. He got to the drive-thru window, ordered a drink and threw the reptile.
While no one was injured in the incident, the man was arrested and Florida Fish & Wildlife and Conservation Commission officials returned the alligator to a canal.
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This next one happened here in Volusia County on another News-Journal editor’s birthday: Feb. 29.
A man in a New Smyrna Beach hospital for respiratory problems set his bed on fire to get the attention of the medical staff he believed was ignoring him, authorities said.
Police said the 75-year-old was at AdventHealth New Smyrna Beach when he became upset because the nurses wouldn’t get him his clothes.
He then lit a plastic bag with a cigarette lighter and set his mattress on fire.
He was charged with arson and released from the Volusia County Branch Jail after posting $15,000 bail. The incident happened in 2020.
This one happened here in Daytona Beach on Sept. 17, the day of another News-Journal editor’s birthday.
A 24-year-old man told Volusia County Sheriff’s detectives he was shot after an argument that began when the driver of a vehicle pulled up alongside him on a Daytona Beach street, asking about his tattoo.
He was transported to Halifax Health Medical Center for treatment, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening. The incident happened in 2018.
The man told detectives at the hospital that he was riding his bicycle when a vehicle pulled alongside him. The driver asked him about his tattoo. The man then got into the vehicle where an argument ensued about the tattoo.
Details regarding the tattoo and what led to the argument were not released.
Two more local stories also made the website.
A 60-year-old man was arrested in Flagler County on March 9, 2020, for posing as a cop.
Two days later, he was arrested for the same crime.
He first tried to walk out of a Publix store in Palm Coast without paying for groceries, and when a security guard tried stopping the man, he claimed he was a U.S. marshal and didn’t have to pay.
He then used another police badge to avoid paying a $2 toll on the highway and got arrested again.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly wrote in a statement after the second arrest that the man “still doesn’t seem to have learned a lesson and he insists on breaking the law.”
In Volusia County, a 62-year-old man attacked his 69-year-old friend who wanted to wake him up for breakfast, according to the site.
The incident happened on April 22, 2020.
The man was enraged at being awakened and grabbed his friend, knocking him to the ground, according to the website. He was calm when the deputies arrived and expressed regret for the incident.
He was charged with assaulting a person over the age of 65.
