PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – An Alabama youth minister was fined $25 for using a metal garden hoe to dig in the sand with his 7-year-old son while on spring break in Florida's Panhandle.
The News Herald reportED Bryant Rylee, of Moundville, was building a sandcastle on Panama City Beach with his wife and son on March 23 when a police officer approached.
Rylee said the officer told them they couldn't use metal tools on the beach, and Rylee asked to have the law cited to him.
Police Chief Drew Whitman said Rylee was given opportunities to fill in the hole but refused. Whitman said the law was adopted following a rowdy 2015 spring break and was designed to protect against sexual assaults.
He said it wasn't intended to "mess up somebody's sandcastle."