THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507270421
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARA STANLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
A nude man carrying tree limbs paced up and down the shoulder of Interstate 64 West during morning rush-hour traffic Wednesday, state police reported.
After receiving more than one hundred 911 calls from commuters, state police took the man into custody as he walked between the La Salle Avenue and Armistead Road exits about 9 a.m., said state police 1st Sgt. Roy McKinney.
The man, who was not charged with a crime, was wrapped by police in a disposable blanket and taken temporarily to the Hampton City Jail, McKinney said. Police withheld the name of the man, who was in his early 20s.
``He's obviously got some psychiatric problems,'' state police spokeswoman Tammy Van Dame said. ``He's naked, so he obviously had no identification on him.''
State police had difficulty identifying the man because he appeared to be mentally disabled, Van Dame said. After the man was given green pajama-like jail clothing and interviewed by police and doctors, he was taken to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.
The first call came in about 8:40 a.m., Van Dame said, and was followed by many more. Some callers said the man carried two tree branches in the shape of a cross, she said.
State troopers had a little trouble finding him.
``Apparently he got off the road a couple of times, then got back on,'' McKinney said.
When troopers found the man - who had been beside the road about 20 minutes - he was walking with a branch over his shoulder, McKinney said.
The man spoke of ``love and peace,'' but he didn't make sense, McKinney said.
The man put up some resistance, he said.
``One of the troopers had to sit in the back seat with him and hold him down,'' McKinney said. ``If he had the opportunity, he would have taken off.
``It's kind of one of those situations that's funny at first but then you look at it and it's kind of pitiful.''
KEYWORDS: NAKED by CNB