Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a man, Anthony Michael Lessa, and charged him with disorderly intoxication after they said he “molested” a manatee statue and threw gator nuggets in a restaurant. Video courtesy Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
A drunken tourist was arrested in Florida after he "molested" a manatee statue then tossed gator nuggets throughout a restaurant before he went on an expletive-filled tirade at a hotel, authorities said.
Anthony Michael Lessa, 23, was arrested Friday night on a charge of disorderly intoxication, according to an arrest report from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
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Officials said the incident began when deputies received a call from Rick's Reef Bar on St. Pete Beach about an intoxicated person causing a disturbance.
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Lessa, of Pittsburgh, reportedly became upset when he was told he'd already paid his bill and he was asked to leave the restaurant.
Once he was outside the restaurant, he "molested" a plastic manatee that was in the restaurant's parking lot and was again asked to leave, officials said.
Lessa became "physically aggressive" with the employee who asked him to leave and started throwing gator nuggets in the restaurant's dining area before fleeing the scene, the sheriff's office said.
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A short time later Leesa was reportedly yelling obscenities at employees at the nearby Postcard Inn, officials said.
He was aksed to leave but refused, prompting a call to the sheriff's office.
Lessa was taken into custody and while deputies were patting him down, they discovered he'd pocketed some nuggets for the road.
"What is that? Oh that was the crap you had that you were throwing in the other restaurant," a deputy says to Lessa in video of the encounter posted to the sheriff's office Facebook page.
"Nuggets, yeah. Gator nuggets. Shark bites," Lessa responds.
"I thought it was like cork," the deputy says to another deputy. "I was like 'why does he have cork in his pocket?'"
Lessa was booked into jail and later released.
