JACKSONVILLE, FL — A 43-year-old man arrested on public intoxication charges allegedly attempted to post his own bail at the Duval County Jail by sliding a gallon-sized Ziploc bag of raw, unpeeled shrimp across the intake counter and telling the booking officer it was “worth at least four hundred.”

Leland Moss Tuckworth was picked up early Saturday morning outside a Kangaroo Express on Beach Boulevard after employees reported a man “aggressively directing traffic in the parking lot while holding a fishing rod.” Responding officers found Tuckworth barefoot, shirtless, and wearing swim trunks, with a cooler full of shrimp strapped to a luggage cart he had apparently taken from a nearby Hampton Inn.

The Shrimp Standard

At the jail, Tuckworth reportedly became agitated when told his bail was set at $250 cash. According to the booking sergeant’s report, Tuckworth produced the bag of shrimp from the cooler — which he had been allowed to bring inside because officers “didn’t know what else to do with it” — and insisted the shrimp constituted valid tender.

“He said, and I’m quoting the body cam here, ‘This is jumbo Gulf shrimp, brother. Wild caught. You know what Publix charges for this? This is street currency. Google it.'” — Booking Sgt. Andre Washington, Duval County Jail

Staff declined the shrimp. Tuckworth then allegedly offered to “negotiate” by removing several shrimp from the bag and arranging them on the counter in what he described as “a good faith down payment.” He was escorted back to his holding cell.

Tuckworth was ultimately bailed out by his sister, who arrived with $250 in cash and, according to officers, “a level of exhaustion that suggested this was not the first time.” The shrimp were disposed of. Tuckworth’s booking on JailReport.lol has been tagged as an editors’ pick. He is due in court April 14.