Background: News footage of the porta potty where Joshua Mulnix hid (WBBH). Inset: Joshua Mulnix (Lee County Sheriff”s Office).
A Florida man allegedly stole a construction worker’s car, tried to run him over with it, then hid in a portable toilet, where he took off his pants.
Joshua Mulnix, 43, is out on bond after he was arrested by officers from the Sanibel Police Department on Oct. 27. According to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, police responded to calls of a stolen vehicle in Sanibel, off the coast of Cape Coral, that day at 4:16 p.m. When officers arrived, a construction worker told them that Mulnix emerged from a nearby beach wearing nothing but sweatpants and entered private property.
The worker told police that when he told Mulnix to leave, he “refused,” then tried to break into a shed on the property. Mulnix was unsuccessful, but then he spotted the worker’s white Nissan SUV, which was unlocked with the keys inside.
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According to the affidavit, Mulnix got into the driver’s seat, started the SUV, and “aggressively accelerate[d]” toward the worker. The worker was able to jump out of the way to avoid being injured. He then watched Mulnix drive away in his SUV “through the property gate” toward nearby Captiva.
At the same time, on a separate call, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance for a “suspicious male” who matched Mulnix’s description. The affidavit said that a man resembling Mulnix, and later identified as Mulnix, allegedly parked the Nissan on a different property, then ran into a nearby porta potty.
Police said that the second caller told dispatchers that the man “appeared to be on drugs.”
When Mulnix emerged from the porta potty as law enforcement arrived, a deputy witnessed him “fleeing on foot” and “wielding two wooden stakes.” Mulnix, stakes still in hand and now without his pants, headed toward another vehicle, and the deputy subdued him with a taser.
The affidavit stated that a pair of gray sweatpants was found inside the porta potty that Mulnix was seen entering. His alleged outing in the construction worker’s Nissan is said to have caused around $4,000 in property damage.
Mulnix was taken into custody and then to a hospital. After being taken to Lee County Jail, he was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and criminal mischief. He posted $7,500 bail on Nov. 4 and was released from custody. His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 8.
