Florida Man, 21, Drove Dad's Car Into Ocean

MARCH 26--A 21-year-old Floridian who was angry at his father drove the older man’s vehicle into the ocean earlier today, police report.

Investigators say that Joshua Kuss had borrowed his father’s car, but failed to return the vehicle to his parent’s Jacksonville Beach residence.

Around 2 AM, cops received a report of an auto in the ocean, according to an arrest report. Upon arriving at the beach, officers spotted a gray Subaru “floating in the water.” Elsewhere in the report, the car is correctly identified as a 2011 Volvo XC70.

Police soon located Kuss, since his father had been pinging the location of his son’s phone.

Kuss copped to the ocean littering--which he called a "stupid move"--and said that he had recently argued with his father and aunt. Kuss had sent his two relatives a 1 AM text warning that, "I'm going to drive the car into the Atlantic Ocean," police reported. "However, Kuss advised that they did not take his threat seriously."

Kuss, investigators allege, sought to “use a cinder block to send the car into the ocean.” When that failed, he got into the car and drove it into the water. He reported turning on “all the lights” and making sure “no one was nearby before accelerating the vehicle into the ocean.”

“While driving, he grinned and wished he could point his middle finger at his father and aunt,” a cop reported. Kuss reportedly told one officer, "Hopefully, they will listen to me now."

After departing the beach, Kuss (seen above) walked to his mother’s nearby house. Kuss’s parents divorced in 2023, court records show.

After his father decided to press charges, Kuss was arrested on a felony criminal mischief count. John Kuss, 60, reported a loss of $6500 on the submerged wheels.

Kuss is being held in the county jail in lieu of $2500 bond.

In January 2022, Kuss pleaded no contest to a DUI charge and was sentenced to 12 months probation. Kuss, who was 18 at the time, was driving his father’s Volvo when collared. In a letter to his son’s sentencing judge, Kuss wrote that, “Joshua has a lot of work ahead of him and I can only hope that he learns from his mistake and turns it into a good life lesson.” (2 pages)