Florida man tries to escape arrest on riding lawnmower

Right when the “Florida Man” meme seemed to have quieted down, we get another prime example.

This time it was ex-felon Dusty Mobley of Holt, Florida, who tried to evade authorities Saturday morning on a stolen lawnmower.

The 40-year-old “put a John Deere riding lawnmower into high gear and tried to outrun pursuing deputies,” the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office said Sunday in a news release. 

Deputies said they used a Taser and apprehended the suspect. When searching Mobley, deputies found a revolver, a handcuff key and a pipe with methamphetamine residue in his possession. 

Authorities said they originally tried to arrest Mobley in January for stealing a $40,000 boat. But when the deputies approached Mobley — who was on the boat in the Yellow River — they said he dove into the swamp to avoid going to jail.

The sheriff’s office said Mobley cut a hole in a metal building using “heavy machinery” to steal the boat earlier this year.

Mobley has been charged with grand theft, grand theft of a vehicle, felony criminal mischief, two counts of resisting an officer, possession of a concealed weapon by a felon, carrying a concealed handcuff key, possession of drug paraphernalia and felony failure to appear.