A Florida sailor who went viral after deciding to brave Hurricane Milton on his boat has been arrested after refusing to move his vessel due to alleged health risks.
Joseph Malinowski, better known as Lieutenant Dan on TikTok, was arrested Friday morning by Tampa Police Department officers.
The 54-year-old had two outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court and one charge for entering a city park after a warning, police said.
Officers met with Malinowski on Thursday and told him he did not have a good track record of waste disposal on his boat, or an accessible marine sanitation device.
He was ordered to move his vessel from the Bayshore Linear Park after officers said his boat posed a public health hazard, but the vessel remained at the site Friday morning.
The 54-year-old had two outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court and one charge for entering a city park after a warning, police said.
The one-legged sailor compared himself to Noah with his ark after revealing he would not heed any evacuation orders ahead of Hurricane Milton
After authorities returned Friday, he was arrested and taken to jail. The arrest warrant listed his occupation as “Tik Tok Star.”
The one-legged sailor compared himself to Noah with his ark after revealing he would not heed any evacuation orders ahead of Hurricane Milton.
Speaking from his 20-foot boat as high winds began to approach, he had said: “The safest place to be is on a boat in a flood. We learned that with Noah.
‘Anyone who stayed on land drowned. Noah and the animals lived. I’m not worried. My life, this is nothing compared to what I’ve been through. This doesn’t scare me.
“This isn’t even a minor inconvenience because all that’s going to happen is everyone gets wet, but I’ll be fine because I’m in a boat that floats.”
Malinowski lost his leg in a car accident when he was 16. He said he had just taken his eyes off the road for a moment when he came across another car going about 45 miles per hour.
‘I expected to be home in time for dinner. I reached the hospital and within minutes my entire family showed up.”
His leg was amputated below the knee, earning him the nickname he still has to this day.
After authorities returned Friday, he was arrested and taken to jail. The arrest warrant listed his occupation as ‘Tik Tok Star’
Malinowski lost his leg in a car accident when he was 16. He said he took his eyes off the road for a moment when he collided with another car
In Forrest Gump, the character Lieutenant Dan lost both of his legs during the Vietnam War and decided to weather a storm while on his fishing boat with the titular character.
The real Lieutenant Dan later told of his wild night at sea after waiting for Milton aboard his small boat.
The TikTok star told his followers: ‘They say the storm is still out for about an hour and a half, and if that’s the case and I’m feeling double what it is now then that’s no problem, no problem now .’
He said his boat was “safe, so I can only go so far” in 125 mph winds, and said his boat had not yet suffered any structural damage.
“I don’t drink water, I haven’t even spilled my coffee yet,” Malinowski shared with his more than 242,900 followers.
‘I’m doing well, I have everything I need, I have enough water, I have enough food. I could stay here for two weeks.’
In a follow-up video posted in the middle of the storm, Malinowski was seen talking to an internet streamer about what he experienced.
He said his boat was stuck between the dock and some water and said, “I wouldn’t even try to get out of the boat right now.”
In Forrest Gump, Lieutenant Dan lost both of his legs during the Vietnam War
After the storm passed, thousands of people began donating to a GoFundMe page set up for him to help finance a new boat for him.
Donations peaked at $44,000 after University of Tampa student Terrence Concannon started the fundraiser.
Streamer Adin Ross also agreed to buy Malinowski a new boat, offering a potentially lucrative opportunity to livestream his daily life online.
As his Internet shares rose, his convictions for assault and petty crime came to light, along with a litany of mugshots over the years.
Malowski has had more than 70 contacts with law enforcement in Florida and North Carolina since 2012, according to public records from DailyMail.com.
His criminal record includes charges of drug possession, assault, resisting police, burglary and battery.
As his Internet stocks rose, his convictions for assault and petty crime came to light, along with a litany of mugshots over the years.
Recently, the sailor spent six months in jail for punching a police officer in the nose. He was released in 2022.
Less than a year after his release, Malowski was accused of setting fire to a park bench and throwing gasoline on a woman who claimed she feared for her life. The case was dropped for unknown reasons.
Last year, Malowski also got into trouble with law enforcement for sinking another sailboat off Florida’s east coast, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel.
Malowski is due to appear in criminal court later this year over a dispute over the ownership of his boat.
“I went to jail, I served jail time, but I can tell you, I’m innocent of all charges!” The sailor talked about his criminal past.
‘I have been reported, I have not even seen the officer. I spent a year in prison. But karma and God are real.”