He showed off a just-hatched loggerhead turtle. But not for long

A Michigan man was jailed after police said he was showing off a federally protected baby sea turtle on Duval Street Thursday morning.

Dean Everett Davis, 24, was intoxicated at the time he was handling the likely day-old loggerhead turtle, which is deemed threatened in Florida and protected under federal and state law, telling police he found it on Duval, according to the arrest report.

“In his hand was a small baby loggerhead turtle sea turtle that may have hatched last night, 7/19/2017,” wrote Officer J. Lopez of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

FWC responded to a report of a man on Duval Street holding a baby sea turtle and taking pictures of it with the public.

Davis was arrested at Duval and Front streets at about 11:50 a.m. for felony violation of conservation-animals-destroy, sell, molest turtles or eggs or nests and felony threat on a public servant.

Thursday evening he remained at the Stock Island Detention Center without bond.

FWC officers called the Turtle Hospital, which sent a biologist who returned the baby sea turtle to the ocean “unharmed,” Lopez wrote.

Davis later said he found the turtle at Nelson English Park in Bahama Village but the biologist, Ralph Capone, said that wasn’t possible since there was no beach or ocean there.

Lopez said Davis became belligerent before he was taken to jail, saying he was only trying to help the turtle and he meant to take it to the aquarium nearby.

“Davis yelled at me, saying that this is not over [and] when he gets out he will be looking for me to give me what is coming,” Lopez wrote.

This story was originally published July 23, 2017 at 8:52 AM with the headline "He showed off a just-hatched loggerhead turtle. But not for long."