On Jan 17th, 2012 local artist and Lake Michigan surfer, Rex Flodstrom, was arrested for surfing his home break, near the Oak Street Beach in Chicago. As Rex came out of the frigged waters the police handcuffed him and confiscated his surfboard. Flodstrom was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of violating the Park District’s Ordinance’s and one count of being in the park after hours.
When the Chicago surfer was asked was the session worth the jail time, he laugh. “Yeah, it was actually pretty good…for the lake. But yeah, if I were able to surf my home spot and go take a hot shower, then it would’ve been a great session. But if I’d had known that I would be arrested and would have to spend four hours in a holding cell in a freezing wetsuit, then I probably wouldn’t have paddled out… It made me feel like the world is going a little crazy.”
The news of his arrest spread quickly on Twitter even Even Kelly Slater had a few words to say. Hopefully the Judge has a good laugh and and dismisses all charges. Rex’s court date is set for February 16th.
