Man accidentally locks himself in car trunk and is rescued by deputy, who then tickets him for pot possession

Perhaps it was the marijuana?

A Marathon man locked himself in his car trunk Wednesday and needed rescuing by police. Once the rescue took place, the man was given citations for possessing marijuana (a small amount in a pill box) and drug paraphernalia, a pipe.

It happened around 9:30 p.m. at Sombrero Beach in Marathon -- after the beach's sunset closing time. That's when Monroe County Sheriff's Office Deputy Seth Hopp responded to a call of a suspicious car at the beach after hours.

He found the 1997 Lincoln Continental in the parking lot with all of its doors wide open but the trunk closed -- and heard knocking coming from the trunk.

Hopp said he was a deputy with the Sheriff's Office and ordered him out of the trunk, but the 32-year-old said he couldn't because he was locked inside. Hopp got the trunk open and let the man out.

He told Hopp he had gone for a walk on the beach and when he returned to the car, he couldn't find his keys. While he was looking, he fell into the trunk and it closed, locking him in, police said.

In addition to the doors being open, the glove box was open. That's where Hopp saw the pot and pipe.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Man accidentally locks himself in car trunk and is rescued by deputy, who then tickets him for pot possession."