Boater stops to use restroom in Florida yard — and thousands have seen the video, cops say

A boater enjoying a day on Florida’s Lake Winterset tried surreptitiously to use the restroom in someone’s lawn, and she missed seeing the security cameras, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

That oversight has resulted in nearly 80,000 people — and counting — watching the awkward moment on Facebook and YouTube. Thousands more have posted reactions and comments.

Judd says the video has been shared in hopes someone can identifying the suspect, who is accused of trespassing with a twist.

“We have trespassing, (but) not traditional trespassing. It involves a lady that’s gone into a neighborhood on Lake Winterset ... and she’s popped a squat and showed us her shiny rear end while she goes to the bathroom in these people’s hedges,” Judd says in a video.

“I want you to think for a second: What if somebody stopped their car or their boat and walked up into your yard and started doing the Number One thing or the Number Two thing in your hedges?”

It happened “late afternoon” Thursday, March 16, at a home on Eloise Loop Road in Winter Haven, the sheriff’s office reports. Winter Haven is about 50 miles east of Tampa.

Investigators say the suspect accessed the home’s side yard “from a boat on Lake Winterset.” Details of the boat have not been released.

“Hey folks, stay out of these people’s yards,” Judd concluded in the video. “It’s their private areas.”

Tipsters are asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 863-298-6200.

This story was originally published March 23, 2023 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Boater stops to use restroom in Florida yard — and thousands have seen the video, cops say."