21-year-old Kiaron Thomas and his friend are in trouble with the Lakeland Police after he was spotted sitting on a chair in the middle of a busy roadway on Friday with a small table in front of him, eating a plate of pancakes.
Eating pancakes while blocking traffic
Several people called 911 to report the incident, saying the man was blocking the traffic. One person told them there was a gentleman sitting on the crosswalk of Brunnell Parkway and Memorial Boulevard with a chair and a folding table and he’s eating. Another person told police there were two guys blocking the traffic and one of them had gold teeth and was “cussing everybody,” referring to the pair of men as fools.
When police headed out to the scene, they couldn’t find the man with the table.
However as reported by The Ledger, later in the day a video was posted to Facebook of the incident and someone shared it with the Lakeland Police. Unfortunately for Thomas, the video was also tagged with his name, making it clear just who the culprit was.
Police didn’t see the funny side of obstructing the road
News Channel II report that the police interviewed Thomas, who claimed it was all a prank. His friend Travis Riley, who made the video and posted it on his Facebook page, said he is a self-proclaimed comedian and went on to say the stunt was only meant as a joke. Riley said he makes a lot of funny videos, but Lakeland police did not find it funny in the least.
Sgt. Gary Gross of the Lakeland Police said he thinks the pair is stupid. He said that while they may have been only pulling a prank, it was not a good idea, as they were putting other people in danger in the process. Gross said that by sitting in the middle of the roadway, Thomas stopped vehicles from moving freely and created an obstruction.
Thomas has now been charged with that obstruction.
In the video, Riley can be heard laughing and joking throughout the incident while Thomas tucks into his pancakes. Comments posted to the video on Facebook pretty much agree with Gross’s statement that the two men are stupid. One asked how they would have felt if a vehicle was unable to stop and hit Thomas while he was sitting there.
