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Nude wader draws crowd at Stearn's Wharf

by BrierRandom (Subscribe)

Posted on: Feb 1, 2009 at 6:08 PM PDT

Channel: Local News

Location: Santa Barbara, CA

Saturday, January 31, 2009: I was riding my bike on the Stearn's Wharf today, and i noticed several police officers on the beach, and a Harbor Patrol boat close to shore, and in between them, a man wading in the ocean waist-deep. As he got closer, i could see that he was totally naked. He went under the pier and out the other side, back & forth along the shoreline, staying waist deep and looking lost. The cops on shore and the guys on the boat were trying to coax him out, yelling, pleading him to come out.

Meanwhile, all the tourist families were walking on the wharf, then looking down and seeing a nude man in the icy ocean! They must've thought "What kind of town IS this??" as they covered their childrens' eyes.

It went on for a half-hour, until he finally walked onto the shore and took off running across the beach, until he was tackled by a member of the SBPD.

He spent a good half-hour in the icy water, and was obviously impaired in some way. I kept waiting for police to send someone in a wetsuit out to get him, but it didn't happen, despite the fact that there was an ambulance and a fire department ladder truck on-scene.

GermanMike says ...

On Thursday, Feb 5 at 1:47 AM

Commenter

what do you mean with kind of town(must have been LA-Tourist's,Not from Europe)...are you saying there is something wrong with thousands of towns across the world seeing nude people walking??

CaliforniaGirl says ...

On Friday, Feb 6 at 4:27 PM

Commenter

Right on, GermanMike! =)

Brier Random says ...

On Sunday, Feb 8 at 7:31 PM

Commenter

No, i'm not saying there's something wrong with nudity itself. But the guy was clearly mentally disturbed, and TEN of our police officers were trying to coax him out of the water for half an hour, then tackled him. Not typical in ANY town anywhere!

Son of the beach says ...

On Tuesday, Feb 10 at 2:22 PM

Commenter

Unless he was drowning, it was a colossal waste of time. Poor guy. How embarrassing. Perhaps they couldve simply put one officer to monitor the guy until he came out of the water and received a lovely citation for public nudity.

GermanMike says ...

On Wednesday, Feb 11 at 4:26 AM

Commenter

Son of the beach you spoke right out of my heart,...besides...what a waste of tax money....in those very bad times....

Holly says ...

On Sunday, Feb 15 at 12:06 AM

Commenter

My my...the TOURIST FAMILIES (not the couples or singles, BTW) might be upset!! And what would people THINK?? HORRORS!

debbthebee says ...

On Thursday, Feb 26 at 7:33 AM

Commenter

If you knew how expensive those nice blue uniforms are you wouldn't be so snotty about the cops reluctance to wade on in! They have to buy their own and the city contributes a mere pittance towards the expense.

SB Joe says ...

On Monday, Mar 16 at 2:03 PM

Commenter

Poor guy..... The Police have nothing better to do in this town than call in all units to help one guy naked in the ocean. What a joke.....I feel great to know that my tax money goes to such a waste.

Lightartist says ...

On Monday, Mar 16 at 4:49 PM

Commenter

The embarrasment abounds. Nice use of funds. cold water shrinkage. OMG he was nekked as a jay bird! All of us appear some what sheltered. I guess I have no point. Just keep shaking my head.

Naked! says ...

On Thursday, Apr 9 at 11:36 AM

Commenter

Naked! Oh My! What has this world come to!!??!! BTW there used to be nude beaches all up and down the coast of Santa Barbara, until the police made all the sunbathers put their clothes on.

shari says ...

On Monday, Apr 13 at 8:39 AM

Commenter

Big deal ! So he was naked, why didn't they just leave him alone, he would of come out sooner or later.

slumdodge minionaire says ...

On Monday, Apr 20 at 7:04 PM

Commenter

Was he too crazy to tell the cops he lost his shorts in the riptide?

bingbnag says ...

On Saturday, Apr 25 at 6:43 PM

Commenter

what this story lacks are the full facts. the nude guy attempted to hit someone with an outrigger paddle, was totally under the influence of some sort of mind altering drug, and was combative. would you want to jump in the water and try to wrestle??

huli 2 says ...

On Friday, May 1 at 10:34 PM

Commenter

paddling with that team will do that to a fella. shrinkage.

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