Lieutenant Dan was arrested

Key insights

• TikTok star Lieutenant Dan was arrested in Tampa, Florida on October 18th.
• He was accused of failing to appear in court in some of his pending cases and of entering a city park after being asked to leave.
• Lieutenant Dan sarcastically thanked the Tampa Police Department for his arrest.

Florida man Joe Malinowski, widely known as Lieutenant Danwas arrested in Tampa. The internet star confirmed his detention on Twitter.

Lieutenant Dan, 54, rose to fame on TikTok for surviving dangerous hurricanes in his small Tampa sailboat. Most recently, it weathered Category 4 Hurricane Helene and Category 5 Hurricane Milton in September and October 2024.

The TikTok star was arrested on October 18, USA Today reports, citing a statement from the local police department. Verliz Williams, public information officer for the Tampa Police Department, said Lt. Dan was booked into jail for failing to appear in court on some of his pending cases and trespassing in a city park after he was asked to leave. He was previously accused of creating a public health hazard by not having a marine sanitation device (MSD) on board.

MSDs are used on vessels to treat and otherwise manage wastewater generated on board. Their main purpose is to prevent the discharge of untreated waste into the water, which can pollute the marine environment. Under the Clean Water Act, a federal law that has been in effect since the early 1970s, they must be present on every ship with toilets installed.

Lieutenant Dan sarcastically thanks the Tampa Police Department for his arrest

In an Oct. 18 tweet, Lt. Dan suggested that he doesn’t dump trash, but instead stores his urine and feces in “container boxes” near the refrigerator on his 22-foot boat. He called this practice the reason for the “lockup” and sarcastically thanked the Tampa Police Department for this turn of events. Local police said Lieutenant Dan was still in the Hillsborough County Jail as of Saturday, October 19th. It is currently unclear whether he was released the following day. He didn’t post any social media updates over the weekend.

Lieutenant Dan’s refusal to abandon his boat at the Bayshore Linear Park and Dock is consistent with his track record of staying aboard no matter what. Most recently, it weathered the devastating Hurricane Milton, whose winds reached up to 180 miles per hour and were estimated to cause up to $34 billion in damages, making it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history. Despite its destructive nature, Lieutenant Dan insisted that weathering the severe Category 5 hurricane would not be a major challenge. In a statement to CBS News, he described the storm as “fairly mild.” Still, the TikTok star admitted that during part of the storm his sailboat was slammed into the harbor wall by strong winds, prompting him to cut a $250 anchor to prevent further damage.

Source: Lieutenant Dan / TwitterCBS News