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First Coast Connect

ONLY IN FLORIDA: A Fairy Tale Comes To Life In St. Augustine Beach

St. Johns County Sheriff's Office

Somebody has been lying in our beds 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 preteen boys hijack their school bus for a field trip to Walmart.

Police in Panama City arrested the 12-year-old after Walmart employees noticed the bus being driven erratically through their parking lot early Tuesday.

The kid was trying to park the bus, and almost made it, but he was having a few problems.

Deputies say the boy had driven the bus 14 miles before he was nabbed.

He is in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice and has been charged with grand theft and felony criminal mischief. (The News Herald)

Speaking of driving... ONLY IN FLORIDA do off-duty deputies take their drunken friends on a joy ride in marked patrol cars.

The drunken, inappropriate remarks and catcalls coming from the loudspeaker of a police cruiser in Broward County had bystanders scratching their heads and dialing 911. This happened in Fort Lauderdale's lively Las Olas district.

It turns out it was an actual deputy behind the wheel. Deputy Rodrigo Mello gave his pals free reign over the P.A. system. (New York Daily News)

Mello has been terminated, but is attempting to get his job back through arbitration.

ONLY IN FLORIDA will you find a real-life Goldilocks story.

According to our news partner News4Jax, 19-year-old Chancy Layton was arrested after allegedly breaking into a St. Augustine Beach home, taking a shower, changing into the homeowner’s pajamas, cooking a meal, and falling asleep.

There is no word of any evidence that Layton ate porridge or how many beds she tried before finding one that was juuuust right.

Homeowner Cheryl Petocz (reportedly not a bear) was shocked when she came home to find the girl asleep on her couch, and said she ran when she told her she was going to call the police.

After promising to seek medical help, the teen posted an $8,000 bond and was released. (News4Jax)

Send your ONLY IN FLORIDA suggestions to firstcoastconnect@wjct.org.

You can follow Melissa Ross on Twitter @MelissainJax and Patrick Donges at @patrickhdonges.

Melissa Ross joined WJCT in 2009 with 20 years of experience in broadcasting, including stints in Cincinnati, Chicago, Orlando and Jacksonville. During her career as a television and radio news anchor and reporter, Melissa has won four regional Emmys for news and feature reporting.
Patrick Donges served as WJCT's Digital Content Editor from August 2013 - August 2014.