ST. PETERSBURG – A homeless man, Daniel Neja, was arrested on Sunday after living at the Tampa Bay Rowdies home ground, Al Lang Stadium for over two weeks.
Neja was charged with burglary and resisting arrest, and the bond is set at $5150. Currently, Neja has not been charged with trespassing for coming into the stadium.
That may be because he was invited in, posing as part of a cleaning crew for the stadium to get in and then he was able to set up a home base.
Finding his way into one of the luxury suites, the 39-year-old was able to set up a comfortable home. He slept in the suite and took food from the concession stands for meals. Keeping him going for two weeks since he got into the stadium.
Of course, it wasn’t just food that Neja took advantage on, with a lot of alcohol in the concession stands he also took advantage of the alcohol but only drank $250 worth of alcohol. If this was across the bay at Raymond James that would only be two beers.
In addition to food and accommodation, Neja has also become one of the biggest owners of Rowdies 2020 season merchandise. When he was arrested, he was wearing $1000 worth of gear according to the police report.
It was the cleaning crew that uncovered him when they became suspicious that it looked like someone was living in one of the suites. The team discovered blankets and razors and then found Neja dressed head to toe in Rowdies merchandise.
Right now Neja is awaiting trial but has previously done this, last month breaking into Lutz Elementry School on the other side of the bridge. He plead guilty to that, saying he was looking for food; presumably, he’ll plead guilty here too.
(Photo: Franksgiving, used under creative commons license)
Florida Soccer Report 
One thought on “Florida man Arrested for Living at Soccer Stadium”