When Eduardo Gonzalez traveled from Atlanta to spend the 4th of July holiday at Blue Mountain Beach, he probably didn't expect his vacation would come to a mugshot and a short stay in a jail cell. Walton County sheriff's deputies arrested Gonzalez Thursday afternoon for trespassing on a private beach.
Lt. Maule, Walton County Sheriff's Office PIO, said, "A trespassing warning was issued right then and there and the individual continued to let us know he was not going to leave and even told us, 'no! I'm not moving. You'll have to arrest me.'"
The deputies acted under Florida Attorney Gen. Bob Butterworth's interpretation of the state's dry sand private beach property law.
It says if the property owner or their designate tells an individual to leave, and the individual refuses, then law enforcement can arrest that person for trespassing, and that's exactly what Walton County deputies intend to do.
Lt. Maule added, "Until we get a ruling from a higher authority we're going by what that ruling said."
Because it's so hard to tell which part of the beach is private and which is public, beach goers say it's unfair to be arresting people for being on the wrong side of the beach.
Lisa Owens from Atlanta, Ga said, "It's almost as if it's a power play."
The property line hassle kept the majority of Lisa Owens' family from going to the beach this week.
Lisa said, "We lug all our stuff done into an area that's not clear it's a private beach and go unload your stuff and have this space and all of a sudden they want you to move three inches over."
That was their first day in Blue Mountain Beach. Since then Lisa is the only one to return the shoreline. As someone who's vacationed here most of her life, Lisa says it's discouraging.
"The fact that I've never encountered this in X amount of years, 20-plus, 30-plus years, it's very frustrating. We're dealing with this now, and the way they handle it is frustrating as well."
Gonzalez spent a few hours behind bars and then was released on $500 bond.