Joseph Malinowsky, the Florida man known as “Lt. Dan,” has been arrested in Tampa. He gained social media fame with TikTok posts as he rode out two recent hurricanes aboard his small sailboat.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrest records show Malinowsky, 54, was arrested Friday for trespassing and failure to appear in court on previous charges of operating an unregistered vehicle and having no valid driver’s license.
Malinowsky became social media famous in the days before Hurricane Milton after rejecting officials’ pleas to seek shelter. He instead remained in his boat while the Category 3 storm’s powerful winds battered Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Malinowski was unfazed, describing the experience as “pretty mellow,” even though his boat was repeatedly slammed against a harbor wall during the worst of the storm.
“I’m not scared of anything,” Malinowski told CBS News’ Cristian Benavides after the storm.