Florida is known as the “Sunshine State” due to its warm weather and sunny beaches.
But a week ago, a rare snowstorm blanketed North Florida.
And a Florida man threw one snowball that could land him behind bars for years of his life.
Residents in many southern states recently enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when record snowfall blanketed the region.
Nearly 10 inches of snow fell in the small town of Milton, Florida.
A total of 8.9 inches of snow blanketed Pensacola’s beautiful beaches and shattered the city’s previous snow record of 3 inches.
“The previous record for snow in the state, 4 inches, was set in Milton in 1954,” the Herald Tribune reported. “On Tuesday, Jan. 21, Milton, the town of Jay, and an area in neighboring Escambia County saw 10 inches of snowfall.”
In Florida’s capital city of Tallahassee, more than two inches of snow covered the ground by Wednesday morning.
Americans who live up north would laugh at two inches of snow.
But Florida people go crazy over the slightest bit of snowfall.
And on Wednesday morning, students at Florida State University took to the streets for a massive snowball fight that got out of hand.
“Students took to the streets near Florida State University to throw snowballs, break out their skis, and make snow angels as a rare snowstorm passed through the Southeast,” MSN reported. “Videos shared on social media document the celebrations, with students seen throwing snowballs, building snowmen, and getting towed by cars while riding makeshift sleds.”
However, the fun ended when a motorist reported being hit in the head by a snowball while driving down Madison Street.
Officers from the Tallahassee Police Department were dispatched to the scene to investigate the incident.
Throwing any object into a moving vehicle is considered a felony.
But the attending officer quickly realized he was in for some trouble when a snowball pelted his car.
“When the first officer arrived to investigate the criminal mischief and felony of throwing a projectile into a moving vehicle and to protect other citizens, he too became a target, with both the officer’s patrol car and face being struck by an ‘ice projectile,’” police wrote in a news release.
Don’t let Tallahassee get snow again pic.twitter.com/QtUyCPQwrg
— Nikko ✈️ (@newyorksauce1) January 22, 2025
Another snowball soon smashed the officer’s face right after he issued a verbal warning to the crowd over his PA system.
“The suspected snowballer fled into the crowd and the officer lost him,” WCTV reported. “As additional officers arrived on the scene, they too became targets for the snowballers despite additional verbal warnings from police.”
Eventually, the police were forced to discharge their pepper ball systems to disperse the crowd.
Why did @Tallypd feel this was necessary? pic.twitter.com/yHYLsYycma
— Naya (@BirdspeaksMy) January 22, 2025
Police arrested one person, 22-year-old Garrett King, and charged him with battery on a law enforcement officer.
“While winter storms can be exciting, throwing hard ‘ice balls,’ can be dangerous due to the hard impact when thrown and can be illegal,” the police wrote in a release.
The battery of a law enforcement officer is a serious crime.
And this man’s snowball could land him in prison for many years.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.