Dumb criminals, a family feud, and a web only bonus story are what await you in this week's edition of 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 criminals not only leave their ID at the crime scene, but then proceed to pose for Facebook photos with stolen merchandise.
Police in Plantation say two men broke into Arion Motors, stealing files, license plates and four cars, including a BMW and a Cadillac.
One of the suspects didn’t realize his ID fell out of his pocket as he left the scene. The dealership owner found it the next day.
Travis Rice, 21, also decided to post some pictures on Facebook the night of the burglary, wearing the same clothes as the suspects as seen on surveillance video. Rice is being held without bond. (CBS Miami)
ONLY IN FLORIDA do barflies set fire to trash cans to cap a night of heavy drinking and face punching.
A Volusia County man has been arrested after South Daytona police said he set fire to a trash can in a bar bathroom and got into a fight with several people as he tried to leave.
Police said 33-year-old Jason Buchanan walked into a bar and ordered $80 worth of shots. Buchanan drank all the shots, and then set fire to a trash can in the men's room.
When Buchanan went to leave, multiple people tried to stop him. Police said he punched them all in the face, including a man who was more than 70-years-old.
Buchanan is locked up in the Volusia County Jail. (New York Daily News)
ONLY IN FLORIDA do siblings wager extremely valuable works of art on a coin toss.
This is hardly a story of brotherly love—A nephew of famed late Manhattan interior designer David Barrett lost a $45,000 painting to his brother in a coin toss.
Richard Barrett, whose uncle created window displays for Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, inherited half of David’s $5.6 million fortune after the designer died at age 85 in 2008. Richard’s younger brother, Alan, inherited the other half.
Richard lost a coin toss with Alan for ”Jug with Lemon” by Colombian artist Fernando Boterom which was that part of their uncle's estate. He has filed a lawsuit to get the pricey painting back; the brothers both live in Florida. (The New York Post)
This week we have a BONUS web story in our web edition, and it is a doozy.
ONLY IN FLORIDA to smug tailgating drivers flip their victims the bird, seconds before spinning out and crashing into a light pole.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Tampa resident Jeffrey Travis White, 22, was tailgating Tracy Lynn Sloan of Lakeland on Monday on U.S. Route 41 near Gibonston.
Sloan started filming White on her phone in time to capture him passing her and flipping the bird at a high rate of speed. The speed was apparently too fast for White, who can be seen spinning out seconds later and heard crashing into a light pole on the other side of the road.
White faces charges of leaving the scene of a traffic crash, careless driving, and failure to wear his seatbelt.
There is a silver lining. The original video of the incident has racked up more than 3 million views on YouTube as of the time of this posting. (Tampa Bay Times)
WARNING: The video below contains footage of a jerk displaying his middle finger
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You can follow Melissa Ross on Twitter @MelissainJax and Patrick Donges at @patrickhdonges.
