Florida's reputation for bizarre crimes just got another entry into the hall of fame.
This one involves a fast food restaurant, a desperate man, and a weapon nobody saw coming.
And a shirtless Florida man broke into Taco Bell through the drive-thru window and cops couldn't believe what happened next.
Homeless Man Terrorized Taco Bell Workers With Rock
Kewarren Lee Anderson, 40, made national headlines when he dove through a Taco Bell drive-thru window in Ocala, Florida last July.
Anderson was shirtless and clutching what police described as a "large rock" in his fist.
He started demanding money the second his feet hit the floor inside the restaurant.
Workers and customers scattered as Anderson waved the rock around and chased everyone out of the building.
Ocala Police Department officers responded to the armed robbery call at 2380 SW College Road.
A K-9 unit tracked Anderson to a hiding spot behind a dumpster near the restaurant within minutes.
Body camera footage captured the moment the police dog found Anderson cowering behind the trash bin.
He started panicking and threw his hands up in surrender when the K-9 approached.
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Judge Sentences Rock-Wielding Robber To Four Years
Anderson told police he was homeless at the time and desperately needed money.
That desperation mirrors a disturbing pattern researchers have documented for years.
A 2008 study published in the American Journal of Community Psychology found that street homelessness directly predicts increases in non-violent crimes aimed at meeting basic survival needs.
The research showed homeless individuals are significantly more likely to commit subsistence-related offenses when living on the streets compared to when they have shelter.
Anderson's case fits that profile perfectly.
He grabbed a rock instead of buying or stealing a gun.
He targeted a fast food restaurant where he could get cash quickly without sophisticated planning.
Marion County prosecutors charged Anderson with armed robbery for wielding the rock as a weapon.
They added a battery charge when Anderson got into a physical fight with another inmate just six hours after his arrest.
A jury found Anderson guilty on both charges last week.
The judge sentenced him to four years in prison, minus the 199 days he already served in Marion County Jail while awaiting trial.
Anderson's Taco Bell rampage joins a long list of increasingly bizarre Florida fast food crimes.
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A 2013 Lake City incident saw a man break into a restaurant not for money but to gorge himself on chicken nuggets before police arrived.
Houston saw a more violent pattern when 25-year-old Caleb Pickens terrorized multiple McDonald's locations in 2024 with an actual gun.
Pickens held weapons to victims' heads and stomachs while robbing them and even fired a shot into a microwave oven.
A jury convicted him and Judge David Hittner handed down a 60-year sentence after Pickens threw a water bottle at prosecutors and fought officers in the courtroom.
The FBI warns that restaurants rank as the eighth-most likely place for violent crimes in America.
At least 10,490 violent crimes happened in U.S. restaurants during 2020 alone, including 76 murders and 5,642 robberies.
Anderson got four years for his rock-wielding Taco Bell invasion.
Sources:
- Landon Mion, "Shirtless Florida man who jumped through Taco Bell window, robbed it with 'large rock' sentenced to 4 years," Fox News, January 26, 2026.
- Caitlin McCormack, "Shirtless Florida man sentenced for diving through Taco Bell window, robbing it with 'large rock'," New York Post, January 25, 2026.
- Allison Petro, "Florida man gets 4 years for trying to rob Taco Bell with rock," WESH 2 News, January 27, 2026.
- Sean N. Fischer et al., "Homelessness, mental illness, and criminal activity: examining patterns over time," American Journal of Community Psychology, December 2008.
