FORT MYERS, Fla. (WSVN) — Two teens’ fishing sanctuary was shattered when a recent run-in with police in Central Florida ended with one of their rods snapped and the other in handcuffs.
18-year-old Josue Miguel and Sebastian Jimenez are the ones seen in this viral video from over the weekend.
The two teens spent their Saturday evening fishing on a bridge in Fort Myers.
The evening resulted in Jimenez’s rod snapping and being thrown in the river and Miguel in handcuffs for over 10 minutes.
“My friend was like, ‘Here’s your pole’. He was going to give it to me,” said Sebastian. “The cop said, ‘Whose is it?’ Then my friend pointed it at me. That’s when the cop said, ‘Is this yours?’ I looked at him and said yes. And that’s when he snapped it and threw it in the river.”
Miguel says that the officer claimed he had seen him at the park before and that’s the reason he was handcuffed. But he says he hasn’t been here in a long time.
“He grabbed me by my shirt, and it was hurting me because he grabbed me ugly and hard,” said Josue. “He dragged me to his car, and then he put me in handcuffs for like 10 or 15 minutes. I was in handcuffs for a while. He told me he’s seen me before, but I haven’t been here in so long, and I have never seen him. So I was just confused.”
The boys were confused as to why they specifically were targeted, as they say there were other people fishing on that same bridge.
“There were other people fishing; they were all staring at me,” Josue said. “He was asking me questions if I knew them, and I told him no because I didn’t really know them. He was telling them not to come back, the other people, and then he looked at me and asked me if I wanted to go in tonight.”
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the officer works for Seminole Gulf Railway. They are not commenting at this time.
According to Florida State law, it is illegal to stand on tracks.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.