Florida Man Charged With Assault With Deadly Weapon After Hurling Alligator Through Wendy’s Drive-Thru Window [Photo]
This is as strange as they come.
The workers at Royal Palm Beach Wendy’s were left horrified when they found one of their customers, later identified as the 23-year-old Florida resident Joshua James, hurling a live three-and-a-half foot alligator through the drive-thru window.
According to WPTV, the bizarre incident transpired when Joshua arrived at the fast-food restaurant’s drive-thru to collect his order in his truck. After receiving his drink, the young Florida man picked up a live alligator and threw it through the window.
Chaotic scenes followed at Wendy’s as workers scampered to save themselves from an attack from the reptile. A photo that surfaced online following the incident shows the alligator looking out from the corner of the kitchen of the fast-food restaurant.
Florida man charged on assault with deadly weapon after tossing gator in Wendy’s drive-thru https://t.co/womNaAHj2m pic.twitter.com/fDSIgjF9lM
— WPTV (@WPTV) February 8, 2016
Although the incident took place last year, U.S. Marshals took Joshua James into custody Monday morning and charged him with assault with a deadly weapon, reports Mashable. He has also been charged with unlawful possession and transportation of an alligator.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, James was taken into custody after surveillance footage from the incident showed him driving to Wendy’s, picking up his order at the drive-thru window, and then grabbing the alligator from behind his truck and hurling the reptile inside the kitchen.
After his arrest, the Florida man confessed to having picked up the alligator up from the side of the road on Southern Boulevard and bringing it to Palm Beach Wendy’s.
Since it was first reported by the local station WPTV, the story has sent the internet into a meltdown, with the photo of the alligator inside the fast food restaurant being shared widely across social media. Many were left wondering the reasons that would have prompted the young man to commit such an act, but according to James’ mother, he never intended to harm anyone.
“He’s a prankster,” his mother Linda told reporters. “He does stuff like this because he thinks it’s funny.”
Asked if her son was violent, James’ mother laughed off the suggestion, saying the young man might have been stupid, but he is definitely not violent.
“I don’t even get that,” she said. “Just a stupid prank that he did that’s now turning into this. Stupid.”
As for the people working their shifts at Wendy’s on the day when the alligator came hurling towards them, none of them think the Florida man’s antics were funny.
Although this is not the first time that customers have hurled things inside the drive-thru window of a fast-food restaurant, this is definitely the first time that someone has thrown in a live alligator. Bizarre as it is, James has been described as a harmless outdoorsman who loves to play practical pranks on people. But this time, as it is evident to all, the Florida man might just have gone too far.
After all, the weird stunt that he pulled could have seriously hurt the workers at Wendy’s. Not to mention the alligator would not have particularly enjoyed the prank either.
The alligator has been released back into the canal, while the Florida man is expected to bide his time in jail until his bail is met.
Do you think Joshua James’ actions were funny, or do you think they were irresponsible? Has the internet reacted too strongly to a prank? Let us know your views by sounding off in the comments section below.
[Photo via Shutterstock]
