Naked Man Arrested After Foot Chase Along 12 Mile Road
MADISON HEIGHTS (WWJ/AP) - Police say a 25-year-old man was taken into custody after being spotted casually walking naked along a road in chilly suburban Detroit.
Detective Sgt. Mark Zupic says motorists in Madison Heights called police on Tuesday afternoon to report the unusual sighting along 12 Mile Road near Stephenson Hwy.
"Officers tried to get him into a patrol car and be became combative, and he fled on foot," Zupic told WWJ's Zahra Huber. "They ran him down and a confrontation ensued — an altercation actually happened. The officer had to take him down to the ground, got him handcuffed."
The man said he needed to go where there was sun, according to the police report.
Although the man allegedly tried to push one of the officers, no charges are pending against him.
He was hospitalized for psychiatric observation.
Zupic said while the man did not appear to be under the influence of drugs, it's obvious he's dealing with mental illness.
"He made some ramblings about God," Zupic said. "It was clear that he really wasn't aware of his surroundings or what he was saying, what he was doing there. He didn't know how he got there."
Zupic said they deal with this type of situation more often than they'd like.
"Not necessarily in the middle of the day, but we've have people that are whacked out on drugs. They get completely naked, start running around in the middle of the winter, bust out of a motel room and just start running through the parking lot," Zupic said.
"Wrestling with a naked guy — we were just talking about it this morning — it's the worst," he added.
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures nearby were in the low 20s with 9 mph winds making it feel like 10 degrees at the time of the incident.
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