MARATHON, FL – There’s been some trouble in paradise this week. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has reported a drunken sailor fired shots into a quiet marina full of live-in house bats. Deputies say a 55-year-old Marathon man was arrested Sunday night after firing a handgun multiple times while in a populated marina.
Jimmy Dale Brock was charged with firing a weapon in public, firing a weapon while under the influence of alcohol, boating while intoxicated and refusal to accept or sign a BUI citation.
There were no injuries reported. The Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the “shots fired” call at approximately 8:13 p.m. on Avenue I off Coco Plum Drive — an area populated with liveaboards.
Sgt. Ben Elmore and Deputies Corbin Hradecky, William Guerra and Jorge Moreno responded. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Coast Guard were also notified.
Witnesses and neighbors stated they saw Brock fire four or five shots from a handgun into the air while he was on his boat at the docks.
One neighbor asked Brock if he had lost his mind, to which Brock replied that he was, “not done yet,” according to the witness. Several witnesses stated Broch then fired three more rounds in the air. Brock then shut the lights off on his vessel — a 21-foot Pursuit — and motored up the channel, firing two additional rounds into the air.
Deputies spotted Brock on his boat at 8:31 p.m. enter the marina with its lights off, except for a spotlight that was shining on land. Brock then turned around and headed toward the ocean. Brock taunted Deputies by yelling at them and asking why they were not coming to get him.
Brock was seen again entering the marina channel at 8:54 p.m. heading toward his vessel slip. A witness yelled out to Brock and Brock responded, at which point Deputies placed Brock at gunpoint and ordered him to dock his vessel. Brock complied. Brock stated there was a .40-caliber GLOCK 22 handgun on the console of the vessel. Deputies retrieved the handgun. Brock stated he needed to discharge or use the rounds in the handgun, because the rounds were old.
Brock admitted to drinking prior to the incident and appeared intoxicated. Brock declined to participate in field sobriety exercises or provide a breath sample. Brock was taken to jail without further incident.
Just prior to this call, there was a call at Sparky’s Landing involving an intoxicated male on a vessel screaming about mask requirements. It was later determined that Brock was the suspect in that call as well.