Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Man who dragged shark to death from speedboat and poured alcohol down throats of fish is jailed
https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-dragged-shark-death-speedboat-145456151.html ^ | September 15, 2019

Posted on 09/15/2019 12:13:39 PM PDT by NorseViking

A Florida man who dragged a shark to its death from a high-speed boat has been jailed for 10 days.

Robert Benac III will pay a $2,500 fine, perform 250 hours of service at an animal shelter and lose his fishing licence for three years after pleading guilty to misdemeanour of animal cruelty.

Benac accepted the plea deal just as he was about to go on trial on Thursday for a more severe felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals, according to The Bradenton Herald.

A second man, Michael Wenzel, accepted a similar plea deal over the incident in February and he was also required to serve 10 days in jail over five weekends.

It is understood charges were dropped against a third man, Spencer Heintz, who was also arrested.

The case came to light when the video of the men dragging the shark behind a boat in July 2017 went viral.

The men can be heard laughing in the footage which was posted on social media.

Robert Benac has been jailed for 10 days. (Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office) Robert Benac has been jailed for 10 days. (Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office) “Look, it’s already almost dead,” one of the men says in the video as he points towards the shark.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission launched an investigation into the video.

Read more

Following the incident, other videos emerged showing the men shooting a shark and pouring alcohol down the throats of live fish.

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: chat; floridaman; localnews; qanon
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-70 next last

1 posted on 09/15/2019 12:13:39 PM PDT by NorseViking
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

Almost as much time as an Affluenza sufferer who paid big bribes to get their kid into prestigious schools but I’ll bet his jail won’t be nearly as nice.


2 posted on 09/15/2019 12:20:24 PM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

While I personally approve of jail time for stupidity, I’m not sure taxpayers are well-served by such a public policy.


3 posted on 09/15/2019 12:20:25 PM PDT by jjotto (Next week, BOOM!, for sure!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

I cannot say this strongly enough. There is something seriously wrong with people who will do this to an animal.

The punishment was far too lenient.


4 posted on 09/15/2019 12:20:29 PM PDT by billyboy15
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

Florida Man strikes again!


5 posted on 09/15/2019 12:20:56 PM PDT by Dr. Zzyzx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

Cowardly little man.


6 posted on 09/15/2019 12:22:14 PM PDT by Levy78
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: billyboy15

Chum the waters and set them a-swimmin’ or maybe drag them from a boat, like they did with the shark.

If they did such things to animals, what might they do to people?


7 posted on 09/15/2019 12:23:44 PM PDT by A Formerly Proud Canadian (I once was blind but now I see...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

What is wrong with these people, that they would commit such acts & then put them on social media for everyone to see?

They should’ve also been made to pay a heavy fine & many, many, MANY more hours of community service taking care of critters to make up for these crimes.


8 posted on 09/15/2019 12:24:12 PM PDT by Twotone (While one may vote oneself into socialism one has to shoot oneself out of it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

Next thing you know they’ll throw someone in jail for shooting a rattlesnake.


9 posted on 09/15/2019 12:24:47 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

I don’t think we have a shortage of sharks.


10 posted on 09/15/2019 12:26:03 PM PDT by Reily
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reily

My thought exactly. I know I am in minority now but thought a jail term for it is too much. Although it doesn’t make these gentleman good guys.


11 posted on 09/15/2019 12:28:48 PM PDT by NorseViking
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Reily

My thought exactly. I know I am in minority now but thought a jail term for it is too much. Although it doesn’t make these gentleman good guys.


12 posted on 09/15/2019 12:28:49 PM PDT by NorseViking
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: billyboy15

Agreed.

...perform 250 hours of service at an animal shelter...

I’m sure he’ll treat the animals great!!

It’s like making a child molester do tutoring for 250 hours.


13 posted on 09/15/2019 12:30:28 PM PDT by dp0622 (Bad, bad company Till the day I die.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

But a shark killing people was/is okay?


14 posted on 09/15/2019 12:32:41 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking
This may be off the mark, and I'm no Buddhist, but what could be cruel to a shark? What is so horrible with pouring alcohol down the throat of a fish?

I know they don't have a spinal cord like fish, but Chefs drop live lobsters in boiling water.

I agree that wanton emotions show lack of character, but can we at least confine the penalty for cruelty to mammals that have a nervous system like our's?

I myself have bludgeoned a snake to death when my only handy tool was a stick.

15 posted on 09/15/2019 12:32:44 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

It may have been stupid, but hardly a crime deserving jail sentence.


16 posted on 09/15/2019 12:34:12 PM PDT by Innovative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

drag a shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo,
go to jail, doo doo doo doo doo doo,
drag a shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo,
go to jail!

There was a time, still around after I was born, when one of the most powerful societal controls was shame. When you have a society without shame, then the only available punishments come from government control, or taking the law into one’s own hands, neither of which tend to end well.


17 posted on 09/15/2019 12:34:46 PM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

Benac, the animal abuser, just happens to be the son of a local County Commissioner.

Hence, the light sentence that was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.


18 posted on 09/15/2019 12:34:48 PM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

There is never a reason, much less a good reason to treat even the most vicious of animals cruelly. It proves them better then we as they kill to sustain themselves, not for the pleasure of killing.

That said I’m curious as to the moral, and mighty social media allowing the video while they ban, cancel, censure conservative media. Quite curious.


19 posted on 09/15/2019 12:36:57 PM PDT by rockinqsranch ("Democratic" party sold out to the ICP. It is now the Communist Party USA.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

I saw the footage of them laughing and grinning in court. If I were the judge and saw that I would have slammed them with the max sentences and fines possible. Affluent, arrogant, scumbags.


20 posted on 09/15/2019 12:37:56 PM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-70 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson