Viral Florida Man ‘Lt. Dan' Is Safe After Riding Out Hurricane Milton in His Boat

A Tampa man nicknamed “Lieutenant Dan” is safe after riding out Hurricane Milton in his sailboat.

In videos shared by journalists on X (formerly known as Twitter) late on Wednesday, Oct. 9, the man — who has been named after the character played by actor Gary Sinise in the 1994 hit movie Forrest Gump — could be seen in his 20-foot boat on the water after the hurricane made landfall as a Category 3 storm. 

Kevin O’Donnell, an anchor for local media outlet FOX 13 News, posted a clip with the caption, “Lieutenant Dan" UPDATE: He survived to talk about his wild night riding out Hurricane Milton on his 20 ft sailboat. #LieutenantDan #HurricaneMilton.” 

In the video, O’Donnell zooms in on the boat as the man — whose real name is Joseph Malinowski — asks, “Hi, how you doing? It’s Lieutenant Dan.”

“How are you doing?” O’Donnell responds. “How’s the ride?”

“The water’s gone?” Malinowski replies.

“Yeah it’s going out … It’s being pulled out,” O’Donnell adds, before asking him how he is doing.  

"I’m doing fine,” Malinowski responds.

“Was it as bad as you thought?” O’Donnell asks, to which he replies, “No. Is the water coming back in or is it still going out?”

“It’s going out,” says O’Donnell. “You hang in there.” 

“Alright, I appreciate that. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Malinowski responds. 

Another video shared by NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin shows him approaching the sailboat and asking, “Lieutenant Dan, are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” he responds as he appears from a hatch. 

“I think you made it through the worst of it,” Entin adds. 

"I’m doing fine, I’m stuck here,” Malinowski replies. 

“Lieutenant Dan” went viral earlier this week after he said in a TikTok video by Terrence Concannon that he wouldn’t evacuate ahead of the hurricane and would instead ride out the storm in his boat. 

Explaining why he wanted to stay put in the video, Malinowski said, “My faith in God. God told me to come out here and get a boat. I came out here and got a boat. He’s been telling me in the last two days I’m doing the right thing. He’s got my back. I’m in good shape. We’re gonna ride this one out.”

The interviewer then asked Malinowski if he would be wearing a life jacket to brace for Milton, to which he responded, “Hell no,” later adding, “The safest place in the world to be is my boat.”

Authorities said they had offered evacuation help to Malinowski, but he declined to move. 

Amid the attention on Malinowski, his past legal troubles have also come to light.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that his criminal history includes a one-year prison sentence for “punching a police officer in the nose” and a separate case last year in which he was accused of setting a park bench on fire and then splashing gasoline on a woman nearby, who “feared for her life.”

Records reviewed by PEOPLE verify that Malinowski, whose name is also sometimes spelled Malinoyski, was released from prison in Florida in 2022 after serving a year for battery of law enforcement or another official.

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In February 2023, he was separately accused of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after a woman claimed he put gasoline on her while she was smoking a cigarette, a probable cause affidavit states. Malinowski told police at the time that he “had thrown the gasoline straight up into the air,” according to the affidavit, and court records show the case was subsequently dropped, though it’s not clear why.

PEOPLE's attempts to reach Malinowski for comment were not successful.

Along with posting about Malinowski, Concannon has started a GoFundMe for him, which has so far raised more than $39,000. 

Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 9, after passing through the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported.