Upset Eagles' Fan Tosses Meat Cleaver at FL Firefighters, Trashes Station

Feb. 15, 2023
No firefighters were injured in the incident at Martin County Fire Rescue Station 14 on Hutchinson Island.

One Philadelphia Eagles fan apparently took the team’s Super Bowl loss so badly that he ended up in a Florida jail on accusations of throwing a meat cleaver at firefighters, officials say.

He missed.

That attack happened as the Philadelphia man was burglarizing a fire station in Stuart, Florida, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

No firefighters were hurt in the melee.

The Eagles lost the Super Bowl shortly after 10:15 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12, and that’s about the time the suspect “broke into” Martin County Fire Rescue Station 14 on Hutchinson Island, officials said.

Once inside, he “ransacked the bunk rooms, urinated on the carpet and stole $126.00, a uniform hat and some knives,” the sheriff’s office says. “When firefighters confronted him, he threw a meat cleaver at them. Firefighters were able to contain him until sheriff’s deputies arrived.”

The suspect was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles shirt and sporting a black eye when his mugshot was taken. Investigators did not report how he got the black eye.

He was charged with armed burglary, aggravated assault on a firefighter and theft, officials said, and was held on a $120,000 bond.

Investigators did not say why the man was in the area after the Super Bowl, but the fire station is surrounded by hotels and an oceanfront resort.

The incident happened around the same time angry crowds flooded the streets of Philadelphia, engaged in vandalism and clashed with police, news outlets reported. Eleven people were arrested on disorderly conduct charges, NBC Philadelphia reported.

©2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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