5 reasons Florida might be the most dangerous state in the country

5 reasons Florida might be the most dangerous state in the country

WalletHub ranked Florida 48th in a list of the “safest states in America.” We get it.

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Hurricanes, alligators and accidental shootings are some of the dangers in Florida. [Times (2018), Pasco County Sheriff's Office, Clearwater Police]

By Daniel Figueroa IV Jun. 28

Florida is 2019’s third-least safe state in the U.S., according to a new ranking by WalletHub. Only Louisiana and Mississippi were ranked as being more dangerous.

Sure, WalletHub — a personal finance website known for methodically measured lists — used 52 different metrics covering financial safety, road safety, workplace safety, emergency preparedness and personal and residential safety to rank each state, but in our gut, Floridians already knew this state was trying to kill us.

It feels like we might actually be the most dangerous state in the union. And that’s not a particular point of pride as much as a combination of reputation and fact.

Here’s a closer look at five dangers that feel uniquely Florida. Maybe next year we can try for most improved.

Accidental shootings are soaring.

https://www.tampabay.com/resizer/YX9...PUHRCC4ULE.JPG The body camera worn by a Pasco sheriff's deputy captured the scene after a 69-year-old man was shot Sunday while waiting in line at the Publix at 2121 Collier Parkway in Land O' Lakes. Deputies later discovered he had been accidentally shot by a small pistol that went off inside his wife's purse after it fell to the floor. [Pasco County Sheriff's Office]

Standing in line at a supermarket? Waiting to pick someone up at a school? Just standing around a middle school cafeteria doing your job?

In all of those instances, a gun was accidentally fired.

Headlines about accidental shootings in Florida raced across news sites in the last few months. Some have led to injury or death, like the construction worker accidentally shot and killed by his friend while working on a roof in Riverview.

Federal data shows a flat rate for injuries in accidental shootings nationwide, while in Florida, the number of people injured in accidental shootings increased 82 percent between 2007 and 2017.

Also read: Nationally, number of people hurt in firearms accidents is flat. In Florida, it’s soaring.

In Florida you can get shot and killed standing on roof by someone who tripped and fell on the ground below. That’s an all-new level of danger in life.

Mother Nature is constantly trying to kill us.

https://www.tampabay.com/resizer/_4_...T6XWC5MLFQ.JPG DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times Mexico Beach on Monday (12/9/18) which remains in a mostly suspended state of destruction since Hurricane Michael made landfall. At right is the home of Laurie June, who said her home was pushed off its foundation across the canal during the storm.


The danger factor of Florida’s weather cannot be understated. Not only can it change from sunshine to roof-ripping winds in a matter of seconds, just standing out in the heat can be a risk.

Recent heat advisories have even prompted forecasters to say it’s not safe to go outside in the afternoon. Just stepping out of your door is dangerous in Florida you don’t have to actually do anything.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...OO9_normal.jpgAmbrey Houk@AmbreyHouk

Welcome to Florida: where I am out at the lake tanning at 6:30 pm and a tornado blows through at 6:35 pm

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5:42 AM - Jun 26, 2019

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From the panhandle through to the keys, Florida can experience almost every kind of major weather event out there.

The state has experienced a rash of major hurricanes in recent years. In 2018, Hurricane Michael hit as a Category 5, making it the most powerful to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which was also in Florida.

Also read: Ground zero: See the damage Hurricane Michael inflicted on Mexico Beach

And if hurricanes, tornadoes and extreme heat aren’t dangerous enough for you, how about sinkholes?

Even if you stay in your house all day long with the air conditioning pumping and don’t dare brave the ominous Florida outdoors, there’s still the unlikely possibility the earth could still open up at random and swallow you whole while you nap in bed. It happened here in 2013.


Mississippi and Louisiana have also experienced some crucially devastating weather that’s not to be discounted. But in Florida, it’s another big-time check in the unreasonably dangerous column.

Gators and panthers and snakes. Oh, my.

https://www.tampabay.com/resizer/LDJ...UUMEFCIESY.JPG An 11-foot alligator is seen the a Clearwater home in this handout photo from the Clearwater Police Department Friday, May 31, 2019. A woman delivering the Tampa Bay Times called police after hearing glass breaking. The gator broke through some low kitchen windows about 4 a.m. Friday at the single-family home on Eagles Landing Circle, southwest of McMullen Booth and Curlew Roads. Photo courtesy of Clearwater Police

The wildlife in the Sunshine State is exceptionally wild.

You can spot an alligator while strolling through any given neighborhood, or while picnicking at a lake. And while rare, Florida leads the nation in fatal gator encounters and gator attacks are on the rise. One smashed its way into a home in Clearwater on a recent night.

Also read: Alligator attacks are on the rise in Florida. Thank humans, scientists say.

Gators may be identifiable with Florida, but there are other deadly animals lurking nearby.

Take a ride across the state and you’ll see panther crossing signs, though there has never been a verified Florida panther attack on a human in this century.

Floridians should be more worried about the six types of venomous snakes that live in the state, and lurk in the grasses and rocks of rest areas along the interstate.

A rabid bat clung to a woman’s arm in Sun City Center not long ago, and rabies cases have been on the rise locally.

In the waters there are sting rays and bony sturgeons that jump from the water and, on rare occasions, collide fatally with humans. Florida is also home to brain-eating amoeba and deadly bacteria in some seafood.

Also read: Rabid otters, flying fish, brain-eating amoebas: Here’s how Florida can kill you

In Florida, you’ll find native red, black and brown widow spiders, which deliver a painful bite that can be fatal in rare and extreme circumstances, along with the infamous brown recluse. And if dangerous spiders aren’t enough, Florida is second in the nation for wild pig attacks.

Whether you bike, walk or drive, our roads can be pretty treacherous.

https://www.tampabay.com/resizer/g14...2DKIEYSX2E.JPG Files | Times

Eight cities in Florida make up the 10 deadliest places in America to walk, according to a report by Smart Growth America. Florida also landed in GasBuddy’s ranking of the top 20 for states with the most aggressive drivers.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images..._o4_normal.jpgBrandon Thompson@brandonpromo

Florida driver crashes into pool http://dlvr.it/R702cV #weird #news #10news

4:17 PM - Jun 20, 2019

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In 2018 alone, there was an epidemic of wrong-way crashes in the Tampa Bay area with more than a dozen, about eight of which were fatal. The WalletHub report listed Florida as the second-worst state for road safety.

The Florida Man.

https://www.tampabay.com/resizer/PEU...DX25VFUGKA.jpg Images from some of our most widely shared Florida stories: the man who broke into the Chattaway to eat soup and play the bongos naked, Miami's 'Florida Joker,' and a couple that planned a Florida Man-themed maternity shoot.

And, of course, there is the “Florida man,” whose reputation shines on the state like a spotlight of laughter with a filament of jokes and jeers.

“Florida man…” the ubiquitous, attention grabbing start to what is almost guaranteed to be a strange and click-worthy true crime story.

When was the last time your ears peaked at the mention of a Louisiana man story or a Mississippi man story?

But mention Florida man, and you know you’re in for a ride. What’ll it be today? A man getting a DUI after hitting a police car with his tractor? A naked man breaking into a burger joint overnight and munching on some ramen? Or maybe the classic face-eating zombie-like attack?

In March, the “Florida Man Challenge” took the internet by storm, prompting people to share the crazy stories that popped up when they searched “Florida man” followed by their birthdays.

Also read: Florida Man Challenge: Which ridiculous headline matches your birthday?

Oxygen TV recently announced a Florida man true crime TV show featuring “America’s most notorious, outrageous, craftiest killers from the Sunshine State,” the network said in a release.

“When the murder is so bizarre, the motive so far-fetched and the crime so outlandish that it sounds like something from a Hollywood screenplay—there’s a good chance it was actually committed by a “Florida Man,’’ a description of the show read.

There’s even a website dedicated to a Florida man scoring system.

Where’s your show Louisiana? Mississippi? Where’s your scoring site?

Being the most dangerous state isn’t something to brag about. But maybe working on it can be.

https://www.tampabay.com/florida/201...n-the-country/

Retirees Are Fleeing Florida as Climate Change Threatens Their Financial Future

Florida woman dies of flesh-eating bacteria, family says

Florida man's body parts found inside alligator stomach

A 12-year-old girl contracted a flesh-eating bacteria while on vacation ...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/us/fl...rnd/index.html

5 days ago - The girl's family think she got the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fascitis after she got in the water at a Florida beach during vacation...

BS!!!!! Florida is HEAVEN!!!!! Compared to the rest of this screwed up nation. No state income tax and South of Tampa, it's warm all year long just about every winter. South Florida is a 3rd world cesspool but it's still better living there than in CA., NY/NJ and in a long list of large metropolitan areas. The cops are corrupt statewide but just don't drink and drive at night and you'll be OK. Stay away from arguing with assholes also.

A Florida man is found dead with 100 dog bites after taking a shortcut to get home

By Christina Maxouris, CNN
Updated 8:57 AM ET, Sun July 7, 2019

(CNN)A pack of dogs mauled a man to death as he walked through a wooded area in Florida, police said.

Melvin Olds Jr., 45, was attacked Thursday after he took a shortcut to get home near Lake Placid. His body was found the same day with more than 100 dog bites, according to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

The county's animal services have set up traps in the area for dogs that may have been involved in the attack. Six dogs have been captured so far and their bite size matches with the wounds on Olds' body, the sheriff's office said.

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Authorities have so far captured six dogs in the area, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said

"That alone is not enough to say that they were the animals involved," the office said. Authorities will compare the captured dogs' DNA to that found on the wounds, according to the office.

"While we may have the dogs that were responsible for this horrible tragedy, we won't know for sure for a while," Sheriff Paul Blackman said in a statement.

Authorities have not said what breeds the captured dogs were.

"I want to encourage residents of Highway Park and the surrounding area to be on the lookout for any loose dogs, especially those that seem aggressive," he said. "We don't want anyone else to be injured."

Such cases are rare

Olds was a father of five and a grandfather. His fiancée, Jannell Ward, told CNN affiliate WFLA she saw a pack of dogs in their neighborhood.

"They growled a couple times but they never ran up to me," she told the station. "They never came at me or insinuated that they were going to bite me. I never got that feeling."

When dogs get in packs, their behavior is unpredictable, Lt. Clay Kinslow, with the sheriff's office, toldthe affiliate.

However, he said, such cases are rare.

"We do work bite cases," Kinslow said. "As far as a pack of dogs that attacked somebody, we don't have many of those cases honestly."

Lake Placid is about 100 miles from Orlando.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/07/us/fl...rnd/index.html

Florida woman accused of urinating in ice cream machine

Posted: 10:57 AM, Jul 09, 2019
Updated: 11:21 AM, Jul 09, 2019
By: WFTS Staff

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INDIAN SHORES, Fla. — A Florida woman was arrested Monday and charged with tampering with food. An arrest affidavit claims she peed in an ice cream churning machine and picked her nose and stuck her fingers in ice cream containers.

Police say the incidents happened at Lu Lu’s Ice Cream shop in Indian Shores, Florida.

According to arrest documents, Jung Soon Wypcha, who police officers say was an employee of the adjoining business with the ice cream shop, was seen on video using the bathroom with the door open five different times in the month of June.

Arrest reports say in at least one of those bathroom breaks, she walked over to a freezer containing cartons of ice cream and shoved her hands into the ice cream containers. On another occasion, cameras captured her picking her nose and sticking her hands in the ice cream. Wypcha was also seen spitting into the ice cream containers on another occasion.

On a final occasion, Wypcha allegedly used the machine used to churn the ice cream as a makeshift toilet, then emptied her urine in a sink used to rinse out ice cream equipment and bowls.

According to arrest records, Wypcha caused $2,000 worth of damage to the products and the store also had to close down to clean equipment and throw away any tampered ice cream products.

Officers arrested Wypcha on July 8 and charged her with criminal mischief and violating Florida’s Anti-Tampering law.

An attorney for Wypcha tells WFTS it is too early to comment on the arrest.

WFTS also messaged Lu Lu’s Ice cream shop on Facebook. Someone representing the business responded saying, “We feel like we just woke up in the middle of a war that we didn't even know was going on. This is pretty scary. I never wanted to be famous and certainly not like this!!! We just wanted to sell ice cream on the beach and make people happy.”

https://www.abc15.com/news/national/...-cream-machine

Mom faces felony charge after girl licks tongue depressor at Fla. clinic

Allyson Chiu, The Washington Post
Published 7:41 am CDT, Friday, July 12, 2019

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Photo: Connor Radnovich, The Chronicle
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FILE — Discarded medical gloves and tongue depressors.

In the grainy cellphone video, a hand lifts the lid off a clear jar filled with tongue depressors and playfully swirls the light-colored wooden sticks around.

"PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH MEDICAL SUPPLIES! THANK YOU," warns an all-caps notice posted on the wall above the container.

Moments later, another hand pops into view. It belongs to a young girl wearing a baseball cap and a turquoise tank top. She too reaches for the jar, but goes a step further, plucking one of the tongue depressors from the bunch and bringing it to her mouth.

Then, she appears to lick the length of the flat stick before placing it back in with the others. She slaps her now-empty hand against the open mouth of the jar twice before the lid is swiftly replaced.

"Don't tell me how to live my life," text superimposed on the video reads.

But what may have been intended as lighthearted social media content could now have serious consequences for the girl's mother, who reportedly filmed the incident and posted it on Snapchat earlier this week, according to WTLV.

Cori Ward of Jacksonville, Florida, was arrested Thursday on a felony charge of tampering with a consumer product without regard for possible death or bodily injury, according to records from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The 30-year-old is not eligible for bond and her next court appearance is Friday. It is not clear if Ward has an attorney.

In an at times emotional interview with WJAX the day before her arrest, the mother of five defended herself against accusations that she filmed the video as part of a recent viral social media challenge that involves people licking ice cream in stores and placing the containers back on the shelves.

"I mean honestly I wasn't thinking," Ward said, later adding tearfully, "I know what it's like to have to worry about your kids' health and stuff. I would never put somebody else's kid at risk."

The video, Ward insisted, shouldn't have been seen by anyone beyond a handful of her Snapchat friends, WTLV reported, citing a post from the mother's now-deleted Facebook account. Ward wrote that she didn't even know there was a "licking challenge."

"I posted this on my personal Snapchat with my 20-something friends, where someone allowed another person to video it," Ward wrote. "I didn't post it on Facebook or YouTube as a challenge or whatever."

The short video also doesn't show that "the items were thrown away" afterward, she wrote.

According to WJAX, the recording of Ward's video was shared to Facebook by someone else and watched more than 60,000 times before it was taken down. In the aftermath of the clip going viral, Ward was vilified and received death threats, WJAX reported.

"It's horrible," she said. "I'm scared for my kids."

In a statement to WJAX, the All About Kids & Families Medical Center, where the incident took place, said they were notified that "a patient had violated our trust with behavior that is inconsistent with the practices and standards that we uphold and expect at our facility." The center did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday.

"Upon notification of this isolated incident, we contacted law enforcement to request a full and thorough investigation," the center said, noting that they also "immediately removed all materials and containers from the specific exam room and re-sanitized our entire facility."

The statement continued: "Our internal investigation does not reveal any resulting risks or harm to patients from this action."

While saliva has antibodies and enzymes that decrease the chance of passing along infectious organisms to another person, the fluid can contain a number of viruses that cause colds, the flu, mono and strep throat, among other diseases, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

"The risk of saliva transmitting disease is very small," Michael Benninger, a doctor at the clinic, said in a 2016 article. Still, he added, "most people would prefer to choose whom they want to share saliva with."

The trend of people licking things they shouldn't appears to have started late last month with a viral video of a teen in Texas tonguing a half-gallon tub of Blue Bell ice cream at a Walmart, putting it back in the freezer and walking away. The clip drew widespread disgust and even sparked a manhunt to find the teen. When authorities located the teen last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) weighed in, tweeting, "Glad they caught this despicable criminal. Behavior like this is unacceptable in Texas & is rightfully punished. Don't Mess With Texas . . . or with Blue Bell."

But like most viral social media content, the video quickly inspired copycats, creating what has now been dubbed the "Ice Cream Challenge."

A Louisiana man was arrested over the weekend after filming himself at a store opening a container of ice cream, licking it and sticking his finger into the dessert before appearing to put the carton back on the shelf, The Washington Post's Alex Horton reported. Lenise Martin III was charged with criminal mischief and unlawful posting of criminal activity for notoriety and publicity, but told The Post that he had purchased the ice cream at the time of the licking and never actually returned it to the store's freezer.

On Wednesday, Ward told WJAX she understood why people were upset by her video and apologized.

"I'm sorry for anyone it's offended," she said through tears. "It should have never been taken this far."

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/lo...e-14090744.php

Put them in the HORSE STALLS picking up horse droppings to pay off their crimes!

Florida 'doomsday prepper' couple charged with abusing 2 women

Florida health officials warn of rabies in Disney World's Epcot theme park


https://www.foxnews.com/health/officials-rabies-disney-worlds-epcot-theme-park

Deputies: Florida man tied up wife's lover, cut off penis, ran off with it


http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/off...an-off-with-it

Florida declares public health emergency over Hepatitis A

Published 1 hour ago

Florida man arrested after allegedly performing botched castration on man

By Louis Casiano | Fox News


A Florida man was arrested Monday after allegedly performing a botched castration surgery on a man he had met on a castration fetish website.

"This one is a little … let’s just say sensitive," the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post announcing the arrest of Gary Van Ryswyk. "You could even say it’s kinda nuts."

Deputies responded on Aug. 18 to a home in Sebring, located 90 miles east of Tampa, after a terminated 911 call. Van Ryswyk, 74, answered the door and allegedly said he had just castrated a man.

"Deputies found the man on the bed with a towel over his groin, which was bleeding heavily," the sheriff's department said.

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Gary Van Ryswyk, 74, performed a botched castration surgery on a man inside his home, authorities said.


"Nearby, there was a pink container which held two body parts that had recently been much closer to the victim. The victim was taken to the hospital and was later flown to a regional medical center. He is listed in stable condition," the statement continued.

Van Ryswyk built a makeshift surgery room in the home, authorities said, equipped with medical equipment, painkillers and a camera to record the procedure. He allegedly said he met the man on a website that caters to people with castration fetishes.

“He also said he had done a similar procedure on a man in a local motel a few years ago that turned out pretty much like this one, but couldn’t remember the other man’s name," the sheriff's office said. In that case, the man was hospitalized but law enforcement was not notified,

Van Ryswyk allegedly told deputies he tried performing the procedure on the man a week earlier but delayed it when something came up after trying to sanitize the area. He told the victim he'd castrated animals and had operated on himself in 2012, the department said.

Van Ryswyk was charged with practicing medicine without a license resulting in bodily injury, a second-degree felony. He was being held on $250,000 bond.

"This one will definitely hang around in the memory for a while," the sheriff's office said. "Van Ryswyk had dropped the ball on this one."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-m...on-allegations

Published 1 hour ago

Florida delivery man accused of killing woman, 75, by hitting her with mallet, setting her on fire

By Bradford Betz | Fox News

An appliance delivery man bashed an elderly woman’s head with a mallet before dousing her with a liquid chemical that spontaneously combusted and ultimately killed her, police in South Florida said Tuesday.

Officers in Boca Raton responded to an emergency call from the woman's home at around 9:15 a.m. Monday, a police affidavit said.

Paramedics found the unconscious woman lying on the floor with blunt-force injuries to her head and severe burns over her body, police said.

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Jorge Luis Dupre Lachazo has been accused of beating a 75-year-old woman and setting her ablaze in her Boca Raton home on Monday, police said. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)


Police encountered a man at the home, 41-year-old David Gonzalez, who told them that he and his coworker, 21-year-old Jorge Luis Dupre Lachazo, had delivered a washer and dryer to the woman’s home, the Miami Herald reported. The men reportedly work for the delivery company JB Home Delivery, a subcontractor of Best Buy.

Gonzalez told police he had gone outside to make a phone call after he and Lachazo had installed the appliances. Lachazo stayed inside to talk to the woman about the new appliances, he said.

After he heard screams inside the home, Gonzalez said he went back inside and saw blood and the woman lying on the floor. He said he went outside to call 911 while Lachazo got in their truck and drove away.

A responding officer saw the truck and pulled over Lachazo, who was sweating and shaking, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Paramedics reportedly took him to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The woman was rushed to a hospital where she died Tuesday from her injuries, police said. Her identity was not released.

Investigators said Lachazo admitted during an interview that he hit the woman with a mallet then doused her with the chemical. Police said he also admitted to using cocaine and marijuana earlier in the day.

He’s been charged with first-degree murder, armed burglary with battery and arson, police said.

Best Buy’s CEO said in a statement the company will no longer do business with JB Home Delivery, which could not be reached for comment.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-d...allet-set-fire