July 10 – Assault With a Holy Weapon: Florida Man Slapped Sheriff’s Deputy With a Bible

A 39-year-old Florida man from Ocala, a postcard-like city often called the Thoroughbred Capital of the World, made international headlines after being arrested by deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, whom he assaulted with a Bible before being restrained and defecating while in handcuffs.

The unusual incident leading to the arrest of Robert Otis Hoskins started with a complaint from a neighbor whose clothes he allegedly stole. Hoskins has a long rap sheet in Florida plus a substance abuse issue; he has previously broken into neighbor’s homes for strange reasons he formulates without paying attention to reality. For his latest arrest, Hoskins greeted the deputies at his house while wearing only underwear; he apparently took off the clothes he was accused of stealing, and he held a Bible in one of his hands.

After getting into a circular argument with the deputies, Hoskins used the Bible as a weapon. Bodycam video published by The Smoking Gun and later reported by British newspaper The Daily Mail showed Hoskins charging the deputies and striking them in the face and jaw before he was taken down with a Taser discharge. Hoskins then soiled his underwear, which sometimes happens to suspects who react with involuntary muscle contractions; he was ultimately charged with larceny for stealing his neighbor’s clothes. Hoskins was also booked on two counts of resisting arrest with violence, criminal mischief, and assault on a law enforcement officer.

What makes this incident even more bizarre is that Hoskins claimed that he did not break into his neighbor’s home to steal clothes. He told the deputies that he intended to rescue a teenage girl therein, but everyone in that household was at least 30 years old.

See Also:

• Florida Man Stories – July 9
• Florida Man Chronicle – July 8
• Florida Man Report – July 7

July 10 – Florida Man Called Police After Getting Mayonnaise On His Hands

A mysterious hamburger left at the door of his hotel room prompted a Florida man to call 911. According to a police blotter column published by the Bryan County News of Georgia, officers from the Richmond Hill Police Department responded to a call made by a guest visiting from just across the border in Florida; he was not identified, but he insisted on getting an incident report because of the mayonnaise he touched when disposing of the hamburger.

The blotter report also mentioned that the Florida man had picked up the burger, which likely fell off the room service cart or was accidentally dropped by another guest, and placed it inside a plastic bag he presented to the hotel manager at the front desk. The guest explained that he did not think anything negative could result from his handling of the burger; however, he heard something while watching television in his room about the potential of being infected by pathogens in the dressing. The voices from the television were spoken by a man whose name sounded like “Como,” which suggests the hotel guest from Florida was watching former CNN host Chris Cuomo reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the end, police officers told the man to refrain from calling 911 unless he had an emergency to report, but he insisted that the mayonnaise exposure was an urgent matter he should document in case his health became compromised. Florida man often gets what he wants no matter the consequences; in this situation, the officers had to file a report anyway because they matched their response to a 911 caller, so he got a case number and instructions on how to get an official copy of the report.