Published: July 03, 2008 02:40 am      

Naked man arrested in city park for drugs

PALESTINE — Palestine police arrested a 29-year-old man Tuesday night on drug charges after the man allegedly was found without pants at a local park.

Sgt. Larry Boyer said that officer Brian Lintner responded to a call at 8:52 p.m. Tuesday regarding indecent exposure at Willie Myers Park.

When Lintner arrived, a witness directed the officer to a parked car where a man identified as Johnathan Dewayne Stephens, 29, of Palestine, was seated in the passenger seat, nude and holding a pair of pants over his mid-section, and apparently “under the influence of something,” Boyer said.

“When the officer asked him why he was nude, (Stephens) answered that he had no clue,” Boyer said.

There were numerous children and adults present in the park at the time, he said.

Stephens was found to have eight outstanding warrants during a background check, Boyer said, including two from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office for failure to appear and six from the Palestine Municipal Court for two instances of failure to appear-bail jumping and one each of speeding, failure to yield at a stop sign or intersection, failure to dim headlights and unreasonable noise.

Officer Matthew Kerr and Sgt. Richard Johnson assisted Lintner.

As officers placed Stephens under arrest and escorted the man from the parked vehicle to a patrol car, the man was stumbling and speaking rapidly as if under the influence, Boyer said.

“Once he was put in the back of the patrol car, he requested to go to the hospital and told officers that he had ingested PCP by snorting it,” Boyer said. “Officer Kerr found five small vials at the spot where (Stephens) had been seated. The substance inside tested positive for PCP.”

Stephens was taken to the Palestine Regional Medical Center’s emergency room for treatment, then transported to the Anderson County Jail after being released from the emergency room, Boyer said.

Stephens was charged with public intoxication and possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram in a drug-free zone as well as the eight outstanding warrants.