The one-legged sailor, nicknamed “Lieutenant Dan,” made headlines when he refused to disembark from his boat in Tampa during Hurricane Milton. His rap sheet is a mile long, and includes arrests for allegedly punching a police officer and trying to set a woman up. Last year, he poured gasoline on her and caused a fire.
Joseph Malinowski, 54, was nicknamed for his resemblance to the unflappable double-amputee shrimp boat first mate played by Gary Sinise in the movie Forrest Gump, and has been known since at least 2006. He has made dozens of arrests in North Carolina and Florida dating back to 2019, court records show. show.
Also, he doesn’t appear to be from the Tampa area. His latest bust was taken in South Florida.
Malinowski was featured on CNN’s Weather Channel and on a livestream with TikTokker “Tampa” Terrence Concannon, who has about 500,000 followers.
Mr Concannon, 23, has since set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to buy Mr Malinowski a larger boat, which has raised more than $40,000 as of this writing, and has left him with “any help at any time”. The kindest person who is ready to lend you. The page remained active as of Thursday afternoon.
Most of the charges are for traffic violations or failure to appear in court, but arrests have also been made for everything from drug possession to attempted trespassing and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
He is filing a criminal lawsuit in Tampa over whether the 20-foot Catalina, which survived the storm, is his.
Malinowski was arrested in May 2021 on suspicion of refusing a request to leave the bar “Blogs Down Under” in Lake Worth, Florida, and causing a disturbance by screaming and breaking glasses. It was done.
When a responding Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy attempted to handcuff him, Malinowski became aggressive and punched the deputy in the nose, according to an arrest report.
The lieutenant tried to calm the rowdy captain by punching him back, and the captain suffered lacerations to his face from broken glass that fell on the floor of the bar.
He was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer and pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty by a jury and served a year in prison.
A more recent and alarming incident occurred in February last year. A woman reported getting into an argument with Malinowski, who was sitting about 6 feet away on a concrete bench on Lake Worth Beach.
During the argument, Malinowski allegedly approached the woman, poured gasoline on the bench right next to where she was sitting, and set it on fire.
The argument escalated, and the woman, who was smoking a cigarette at the time, said Malinowski threw gas at her in an attempt to set her on fire.
Fearing for her life, she called 911 and grabbed her crutches to prevent Malinowski from using them as a weapon or running away before help arrived, records said.
Malinowski has been using crutches to get around since his left leg was amputated above the knee in a scooter accident about 40 years ago.
He was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, but the case was dropped a month later because the motive was not explained and could not be immediately identified.
His credentials as a responsible seafarer are also shaky at best.
According to court documents, Malinowski is accused of abandoning a 26-foot sailboat called the Roan Inish, which was found “on its side and submerged in a breakwater” in Lantana, South Florida, in March of last year. was indicted for.
However, prosecutors later refused to pursue the case in court, citing the terms of the plea agreement.
Mr. Malinowski gained internet fame for stubbornly refusing to evacuate his ship as Hurricane Milton battered Florida, despite threats of arrest and stern warnings from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. .
Castor claimed at a press conference Wednesday that the Nomad captain was eventually pacified and evacuated, but that he was soon found aboard a yacht anchored in Tampa Bay.
“I know the mayor of Tampa said in a press conference that Lt. Dunn went to the shelter. He didn’t, and I’m standing here,” NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin said just before noon. , tweeted along with a photo of Malinowski poking out of the canvas covering the yacht’s cabin.
