HE'S ALIVE!!

If you missed the saga of Lieutenant Dan, the one-legged Tampa Bay pirate who said God told him to ride out Hurricane Milton on his sailboat, well, you missed some fine entertainment for your Wednesday afternoon.

In a midday news conference, Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor told the press that Lieutenant Dan had been taken into custody for his own safety, but Lieutenant Dan gave police the slip and made it back to his boat!

In the early evening, CNN actually interviewed Castor about Lieutenant Dan:

And these were the last images of Lieutenant Dan as Milton slammed into Florida's west coast in the fading twilight of the day:

But people are noting that Lieutenant Dan's epic story may just be one giant grift.

For one thing, the guy has a lengthy arrest record. Check out his mugshots:

Here's one arrest from North Carolina in 2016 for assaulting a woman:

Of course, the fact that Joseph Malinowski was arrested over a dozen times only adds to his Florida Man credentials.

But there's more.

He also lists himself as a "digital creator" on his Facebook page ... and that's not all:

So this career criminal made his way to Tampa Bay to purposely park himself in the worst, most visible spot.

All of this for internet clout.

Yeah, well, it worked.

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