(ConservativeSense.com) – In yet another example of an epidemic of mental health issues, a man in Alabama was arrested for stripping off his clothes and diving into an aquarium at a sporting goods store.
On Friday, Jan. 5, a Bass Pro Shop in the town of Leeds, Alabama, received a surprise guest: a naked man swimming in the store’s aquarium. After reportedly starting to behave erratically while driving, George Owens deliberately crashed his car into a pole in the Bass Pro Shop parking lot. The suspect then exited his vehicle, stripped off all of his clothes, ran into the store, and then dived into the large aquarium.
According to Paul Irwin, the Leeds Chief of Police, the incident occurred right after the store closed for the day and was vacant of customers. Owen’s family informed law enforcement that the 42-year-old is mentally ill. According to Irwin, he dispatched officers to the scene to remove the suspect from the giant fish tank, who acted belligerently toward the police and refused to follow their orders to exit the water.
A bystander captured a video of the scene which shows two Leeds police officers talking to Owen and trying to convince him to cooperate with their instructions to leave the tank. When they first approached him, Owen exited the aquarium briefly, shouted at them, and then jumped back in the water.
Irwin told Fox News reporters that the suspect was “very erratic” and “saying a lot of nasty things” to his officers. As Owen continued shouting at them, he eventually climbed over the edge of the tank, slipped, and fell to the ground. Apparently unconscious, officers were able to handcuff him, during which he awoke and tried to resist, kicking one of the officers.
After covering Owen with a blanket, police escorted him out of the shop and then placed him in their patrol car, but not before the suspect was able to kick the car door and damage the vehicle. He was then brought to a nearby hospital for a mental health evaluation and treatment, after which police booked him at St. Clair County Jail in Sterrett, Alabama.
Owen faces multiple charges, including disorderly conduct, public lewdness, second-degree assault, resisting arrest, and more.
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