The Wildest Florida Headlines of 2025

Looking back at 2025 in Weird Florida News, it was clearly the Year of the Costume. Over and over, we saw Florida Men and Women dress up to get down to wacky crimes.

A St. Petersburg woman was arrested for covering a neighbor’s car in toilet paper while she was dressed as a hot dog. The police report offered no explanation for her costume, but apparently, it helped commit vandalism with a lot of relish.

One of the most circulated photos of the year happened when Tallahassee police arrested a Chuck E. Cheese employee for credit card fraud—while he was dressed as the restaurant’s rodent mascot. I wonder if anyone yelled, “You dirty rat!”

Then there was the St. Petersburg man who threatened a noisy landscaper with a 12-inch dagger. What made him stand out is that he was dressed in a full jester costume. This was one jester who was not going to enjoy going to court. 

One thief drove from Pensacola to Orlando, swiping Smokey Bear stand-up signs from state forests so he could sell them on Facebook Marketplace for nearly $2,000 each. Someone dressed as Smokey Bear himself showed up to assist with his arrest.

Some costumes were more practical. A man dressed in scuba gear swam up to a floating restaurant in Disney Springs, climbed aboard, tied up two employees, robbed the place and swam away. The robber made off with between $10,000 and $20,000. Police have yet to locate him. This was no Mickey Mouse operation!

Not all aquatic adventurers were so well prepared. Two people that the Hernando County sheriff’s office called “adventurous individuals” set sail for the Gulf during a small-craft advisory on an inflatable kiddie pool. 

Crooks and Cops

Many Florida crooks stole valuable things. Some stole things besides money. The best example was a Doral chef who snuck back into his employer’s restaurant on his night off to steal some secret recipes, which he planned to use at a different restaurant. Sounds like he had a recipe for disaster.

Another was the thief on a skateboard who rode through Wilton Manors and made off with a sea cow statue worth more than $5,000. The statue was decorated with a rainbow pattern, so you could say, “Oh, the hue manatee!”

Perhaps the boldest thief was the man who walked into the Polk County sheriff’s substation in Polk City and walked out with Sheriff Grady Judd’s portrait. Judd was far from the only news-making lawman this year. An off-duty Volusia County deputy on a motorcycle was pulled over on I-4 because her bike had a fake license plate that said, “CHASEM3.” That led to the discovery of a social media account showing her doing a lot of stunt riding on public roads. She was born to be wild!

A Lake County deputy had to resign after he crashed his cruiser while watching porn on his phone. A Jacksonville sheriff’s deputy who was trying to taser a suspect accidentally tasered his partner instead. A Leon County deputy pulled his gun on a man pumping gas because he thought the nozzle looked like a weapon. 

Put Your Hands Up

On the other hand, the following are things that are not firearms but were used as weapons in Florida in 2025: a cheeseburger; cheesy nachos; a plug of chewing tobacco; a dildo; a banana; a pizza box; a conch shell; and some Silly String. If only there’d been video of that last one!

One of the most dramatic videos this year showed a Beechcraft 55 plane that lost power to make an emergency landing on I-95 in Brevard County—on top of a car. Good luck explaining that to the insurance company!

Natural phenomena from the sky also made news. A lightning bolt struck the fireworks Sanford had stockpiled for the Fourth of July, setting the celebration off prematurely. 

Speaking of natural phenomena, six nudists got arrested for disrobing at the wrong Fort Pierce beach. The clothing-optional beach was closed for renovations.

Other Floridians made news with unconventional lifestyle choices. A Pasco County man who said he’s Florida’s No. 1 freelance sperm donor leaves the samples in his mailbox for women to pick up. 

One of the great pleasures of living in Florida is knowing that even the most routine news stories can take a wild turn. Government agencies work year-round to remove derelict boats. This year, the list of derelict vessels included a 96-foot submarine abandoned in Marathon. 

Some government officials made news by doing things that were, um, unexpected. A Treasure Island commissioner had to apologize after sending late night texts to a constituent asking him what his wife was wearing and if he could clean his feet and kiss them both.

Speaking of married people, relationship problems led to some special Florida headlines. An Orange County firefighter was accused of throwing 100 tampons that she’d painted red onto her ex-boyfriend’s lawn. 

Togetherness can cause trouble too. In Webster, a couple were caught having sex on a sepulcher in a cemetery listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Their love was a grave matter!

The Wild Ways of Florida

As always, our Florida wildlife made life pretty wild. St. Cloud residents peppered state wildlife officials with phone calls after spotting a runaway kangaroo. They were able to hop in and capture it.

A man caught illegally dumping yard trash in Brevard County turned out to be carrying an unusual passenger in his pickup: a juvenile rainbow boa constrictor. That led to the discovery that he had even more unlicensed wildlife at his home, including two Burmese pythons. Why only the boa got to ride in the car remains a mystery.

A Lehigh Acres man was doing crossword puzzles when his sliding glass door exploded and a 300-pound feral hog burst into his living room. When deputies tried to capture it, the hog fled into the woods. He didn’t want to hog the spotlight.

Cape Coral residents found a different animal to be even more destructive. When the brick facade collapsed at a long-closed bank, people realized the building had been taken over by iguanas—as many as 40—and the infestation turned into a tourist attraction, drawing visitors from out of town to snap pictures. Iguana tell you how popular it was!

Speaking of infestations, the sewer system of a major city turned out to be full of gators. No, not New York City. It was, appropriately, Gainesville. Gators in the sewer turn out to be safer than gators on the road. A pair of motorcyclists zooming along on separate bikes on I-4 near Orange City hit the same alligator in the road and crashed. If only they had told the gator they’d see him later. 

A homeowner in Merritt Island was horrified when he saw on his surveillance camera that raccoons had invaded his house, scaring his cat and splashing around in his jacuzzi. They didn’t leave him a five-star rating, either. On the other hand, the animals weren’t the only ones who were out of control. A man walked into a Jacksonville pet store, stuck a ferret down his pants and walked out. Maybe he needed it to complete his Florida Man costume!

As a whole, these headlines are a reminder that in Florida, the line between the absurd and just another day in paradise is paper-thin. But no matter how strange the year gets elsewhere in America, the Sunshine State remains committed to its calling: keeping the rest of the country entertained, confused and just a little bit concerned. Meet you here, same time next year!