How a Mississippi man's embarrassing arrest in a "Captain America" costume put him on the road to sobriety
Dacula, Georgia — In September 2019, David Hobbs was arrested in an alley in his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, for breaking into a backyard shed.
Unfortunately, at the time he was dressed as the comic book character "Captain America." So of course, the next day pictures of the handcuffed superhero went viral. Cable networks and newspapers around the world made him their laughingstock.
"I truly felt as if my life was over," the 41-year-old Hobbs told CBS News. "All these people were talking about me, making fun of me, and I'm like, man, what an embarrassment I am to my family."
Aside from family, Hobbs says one of the few people not laughing was his childhood friend Trey Lewis.
"After I got my mind around the details of it, I mean it was just sadness," Lewis said. "I mean, obviously, this was drug-induced."
He was right about that. Hobbs had been an addict his entire adult life. Fortunately, his old friend Lewis, who Hobbs hadn't seen in 20 years, now owned Good Landing Recovery, a treatment program based in Dacula, Georgia.
"I came here with a suitcase full of dirty clothes and half a cigarette," Hobbs recently told a group of program participants. "That's all I had when I got to rehab."
Lance let Hobbs complete the program for free, and that proved to be a success. Hobbs has now been five years sober.
Which is why Hobbs now looks back at the infamous picture of his arrest fondly. The worst day of his life has become his best day.
"What was meant to destroy me actually was the steppingstone to rebuilding me," Hobbs said. "…If you still have breath in your lungs and you're still alive, there's a chance. You can turn it around."