Gun Toting 'Pirate' Arrested in Florida Keys

Tampa Bay’s Jose Gaspar might be Florida’s “most notorious pirate,” but he’s getting a little competition out of South Florida.

It seems a trucker from Marathon went out of his way Monday evening to show off his pirate creds, ultimately landing himself behind bars on a disorderly conduct charge.

“Deputies responding to a ‘shots fired’ call on the old Seven Mile Bridge Monday night arrested a man in a full pirate costume, complete with operational black powder pistols in holsters on each hip, a sword and two knives,” the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office explained on Facebook.

The call about the unusual disturbance came in around 8:20 p.m. The caller made it clear there was a pirate firing a gun on the bridge, the sheriff’s office noted.

Deputy Garrett Bragg was dispatched to the scene. It didn’t take him long to realize the caller wasn’t pulling his leg.

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Bragg found “58-year-old Jamie Spering, who said he is an entertainer” in full pirate garb, the Facebook post said. Spering told the deputy he was on the bridge with friends to take in the sunset and shot both of his black powder pistols. He told Bragg there were no projectiles in the guns and that he only fired toward the water.

Witnesses, however, didn’t quite agree with the story. The sheriff’s office said Bragg was told a shot was also fired toward cars traveling on the bridge.

In any case, Spering was taken to the Monroe County Jail and booked in on one count of disorderly conduct. He told jail officials he also works as a truck driver in Marathon, jail records indicate.

Spering was still wearing his pirate costume when officials took his booking photo.

Photo courtesy of the Monroe County Jail