Florida engineers are supposed to build things – not destroy them.
Then Riley Ferrer got behind the wheel at midnight on I-75.
What he did next – and the reason he gave for doing it – is something troopers will be telling stories about for years.
The Crash That Shut Down a Highway
Shortly after midnight on June 19, Ferrer was driving his pickup northbound on I-75 in Hernando County when he lost control, veered off the road, and slammed directly into a black sedan stopped on the shoulder near mile marker 295.
The truck rolled into the woods.
The couple inside the sedan were seriously injured – seriously enough that the Hernando County Sheriff's Office shut down the northbound lanes so a BayFlight medical helicopter could land.
https://twitter.com/NewMediaNe52690/status/2068327587437293844?s=20
While fire rescue crews worked to stabilize the two victims and prepare them for airlift, Ferrer – completely uninjured – ran out of the woods and sprinted past every first responder on scene.
His target was the helicopter.
What Happened When Troopers Caught Up With Him
Ferrer was stopped before he could board the aircraft.
The Florida Highway Patrol took him into custody, and that's when he explained himself.
He told troopers he had seen the Antichrist.
That was why he lost control of his truck.
He never explained why the helicopter theft fit into the plan.
The arrest report describes what troopers saw next: a man who wouldn't answer questions, couldn't stay still, and showed no normal reaction to being detained – behavior consistent with an acute psychiatric episode rather than intoxication.
No toxicology results have been released.
Troopers put him in a patrol car and brought him to Tampa General Hospital in Brooksville for evaluation.
He refused to walk in on his own.
https://twitter.com/ArrestsSfl/status/2068122322062455217?s=20
Once inside, he kept trying to get up and leave until local sheriff's deputies arrived to contain him.
After medical clearance, he was transferred to the Hernando County Detention Center.
When deputies told him to remove his jewelry, he looked at them and said, "You do it."
He was booked on one count of burglary of an occupied conveyance and three counts of resisting an officer without violence.
The burglary charge – for attempting to board the helicopter – carries no bond.
The resisting charges carry a $3,000 bond.
His court date is set for July 14.
While Ferrer Got Medically Cleared, the Couple He Hit Got Airlifted
Here is what gets buried in all the Florida Man jokes.
Two people were on that highway shoulder doing nothing wrong.
Their condition has not been publicly confirmed, and we don't even know their names.
The entire story has become about the man who claims he saw the Antichrist – his clean record, his engineering career, his defiant one-liner to jail deputies.
Meanwhile, he's out on bond.
That's what should make you furious.
Not the Antichrist story.
https://twitter.com/UnbiasedHdlns/status/2068585968232173961?s=20
Not the helicopter stunt.
The fact that two innocent people were seriously injured on a routine night, the press can't even tell you how they're doing, and the man who hit them is home while the internet laughs about the meme.
Florida troopers did their job.
They stopped him, secured the scene, and kept that helicopter – with an injured passenger already being loaded aboard – out of his hands.
The system after that is the question.
If Ferrer had gotten into that cockpit, we'd be talking about something far worse than burglary charges.
Sources:
- Florida Highway Patrol, Arrest Report for Riley Johnson Ferrer, June 19, 2026.
- "Florida man tries to steal medical helicopter waiting to transport patients after I-75 crash," Fox 13 Tampa Bay, June 19, 2026.
- "Man tried to steal medical helicopter after causing crash in Hernando County," WFLA, June 19, 2026.
- "Man tried to steal medical helicopter after causing crash in Hernando County," WTSP, June 19, 2026.
- "Florida Man Crashes on I-75 After Claiming to See Antichrist and Attempts to Steal Medical Helicopter," Hernando Sun, June 20, 2026.
- "Florida Man Riley Ferrer Blames Anti-Christ for I-75 Crash Before Trying to Steal Emergency Medical Helicopter," International Business Times, June 22, 2026.
