A Florida man who this weekend was charged with prodding his stepson to run "football sprints" while motivationally waving a BB gun is now in the hospital after an apparent overdose.


On Saturday, after a youth football league game in which his stepson got benched on account of feeling "numb and dizzy," Robert Lynn Barker set up cones in the familial yard and ran conditioning drills for the boy. In his full football gear, the young man ran several sprints before neighbors who had heard the BB gunfire called the police. Barker was arrested and charged with one count of child abuse, one count of aggravated assault with a weapon, and one count of tanning while apparently wearing a pith helmet. So let it be said that it is illegal in the state of Florida to force children to run wind sprints and use a BB gun as a motivational tool, but bestiality legislation gets nowhere in the state assembly.


The story took an even more bizarre turn when Barker was hospitalized Tuesday with an overdose, and his mother revealed he suffered from gastro-intestinal bleeding. Once he's released from the hospital, I'm sure a few shuttle runs will get him in tip top shape.

Man accused of using BB gun to force teenager to exercise apologizes [Orlando Sentinel]

Man charged with child abuse in BB gun incident hospitalized [Orlando Sentinel]

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