It's a stocking stuffed with alligators, marijuana, onions and beer in this week's ONLY IN FLORIDA.ONLY IN FLORIDA is our weekly roundup of the strange, bizarre and just plain ridiculous headlines from right here in the Sunshine State.
ONLY IN FLORIDA do people try to trade live alligators for beer.
A Miami man walked into a convenience store with a four foot alligator this week hoping to exchange it for a twelve pack.
Instead, he received charges from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for illegally capturing the reptile.
A commission spokesperson was quoted as saying he had never seen anything like it in 25 years of law enforcement. (Field & Stream)
ONLY IN FLORIDA does the Grinch give speeding motorists a break for the holidays.
Major Lou Caputo of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office dresses like the mean green Dr. Suess character around the holidays while posted at school zones.
If he catches speeders traveling between one and five miles-per-hour above the posted limit he offers them a choice, a ticket or an onion.
The catch — the onions are a month old and have holes poked in them.
In a related story, Krampus has been known to take a temporary position with the Waldo Police Department around this time of year. (NBC Miami, National Geographic)
ONLY IN FLORIDA do criminals try to smuggle drugs wrapped as Christmas gifts.
A man in the Miami-Dade County town of Surfside was caught doing just that this week. Police say he was transporting about 20 pounds of marijuana in large boxes wrapped as Christmas presents.
After observing several “criminal activity indicators” police asked the man for consent to search his truck, including the gift-wrapped marijuana.
It looks like somebody won’t be getting their Christmas presents this year. (Centre Daily Times)
That wraps up our ONLY IN FLORIDA coverage for 2013. Both Buzzfeed and Huffington Post have lists of their strange and otherwise insane stories from the Sunshine State this year, many of which we have also featured in this column. See you next year!
Send your ONLY IN FLORIDA suggestions to firstcoastconnect@wjct.org.
You can follow Melissa Ross on Twitter @MelissainJax and Patrick Donges at @patrickhdonges.
