Panama City Beach police: Two men responsible for promoting 'Panamaniac' event arrested

Nathan Cobb, The News Herald
·2 min read

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Two of the people responsible for helping "Panamaniac" gain traction on social media have been arrested.

According to a press release from the Panama City Beach Police Department, Demarion Ty'Quan Cooper, 20, and Rashad Boyce Glasper, 25, were arrested Thursday in their homes in Alabama for allegedly inciting or encouraging a riot.

Demarion Ty'Quan Cooper, 20, of Troy, Alabama
Demarion Ty'Quan Cooper, 20, of Troy, Alabama

"Both of them were here during the weekend that everybody remembers, committing a multitude of crimes," said Beach Police Chief J.R. Talamantez, who added that Cooper and Glasper are known gang members. "(They're) partly responsible for what we saw.

"... These are not the type of people we want visiting Panama City Beach, (and) I think everybody could agree," Talamantez added. "We want people to play with sand castles and sand buckets, not semi-automatic weapons."

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According to the release, police determined that both Cooper and Glasper "played a substantial role in promoting and influencing their followers to create" the chaotic and unsanctioned event in Panama City Beach from March 25-27 that was known as "Panamaniac."

Beach Police, Bay County Sheriff's Office and Panama City Police Department arrested a combined 161 people and seized 75 illegal guns between March 26-27.

Talamantez said that Cooper and Glasper were not the sole promotors of the event, and more people who were involved are expected to be arrested in the near future.

He added that that during the heat of "Panamaniac," Cooper made a post on social media that said "mask up, glove up, let's burn this place down."

Rashad Boyce Glasper, 25, of Wetumpka, Alabama
Rashad Boyce Glasper, 25, of Wetumpka, Alabama

The Beach Police worked in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force, BCSO, the Troy Police Department and the Elmore County Sheriff's Office to make the arrests.

As of Thursday afternoon, Cooper awaited his first appearance at the Bay County Jail, while Glasper was being held at the Elmore County Jail pending extraction, the release reads.

"There's no words to describe their actions," Talamantez said. "There were seen with guns multiple times throughout the weekend. ... They won a prize, and that's a trip to jail. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: PCB police arrests two Alabama men responsible for 'Panamaniac'