A Florida man was caught on camera attacking a shark with a hammer — then arrested when he allegedly blew off a court summons he received for the disturbing incident, authorities said.
Brian Waddill, 33, caught the lemon shark while fishing at Bicentennial Beach Park in Indian Harbor Beach on Dec. 20, authorities said.
The shark is from a protected species, but instead of letting it go, Waddill bizarrely took out a hammer and started bashing the beast with it before tossing the animal back in the water, Fox 35 reported, citing the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s investigative report on the incident.
The brutal episode was caught on surveillance video, and witnesses were later able to identify Waddill as the shark’s attacker.
Waddill struck the shark several times before flipping it on its side and used the backside of the hammer to rip the shark’s gills out, witnesses told the Fish and Wildlife Conservation investigator.
He faces two misdemeanor charges, including failure to return a prohibited species unharmed and a violation against the harvest, landing, or sale of sharks.
While shark fishing is legal in Florida, there are regulations on the type of sharks that can be caught and taken out of the ocean.
Lemon sharks are among the 28 protected sharks in the state of Florida, according to Fishing and Wildlife Conservation.
Waddill allegedly continued to hit the shark until he realized people were watching him, one witness said, according to the report.
He then seemed to try and return the shark to the water even after it appeared to have died.
The shark’s body was eventually carried away from the beach by the waves, a witness said.
The shark’s carcass has not been located.
Waddill was issued a court summons to be arraigned on charges, but the summons was returned so a warrant for his arrest was issued.
He was held on a $500 bond but has since been released, according to online reports.
Lemon sharks can reach up to 10 feet in length and up to 551 pounds, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History, which says the animals can live up to 27 years.
