(9/13/09 photo by WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
More than three months after the September 13th “World Naked Bike Ride” in West Seattle – in which a dozen-plus cyclists in various stages of undress rode from Morgan Junction up California SW through The Junction and on to Alki and Lincoln Park (WSB coverage here) – its organizer has been charged with indecent exposure. Daniel Johnson contacted us via Twitter last night to report he’d gotten notice of the charge. We cross-referenced city files to confirm it, then called the City Attorney‘s office today for details. According to deputy city attorney Mike Finkle, the charge stems from a police report filed the day of the ride. You may recall from our coverage this year and last, police had explained that someone would have to complain (or engage in “lewd behavior”) for them to intervene. According to the court document Finkle read to us, that’s what happened: First police were stopped by someone in the 2400 block of Alki during the ride, saying he was offended to see the unclothed riders, particularly because he had a child in the car; the officer wrote of stopping the group nearby “two minutes later,” and being told they had permission to do this each year. The officer, nonetheless, told them not to continue on to the beach. Less than an hour later, police got a call from someone complaining about the “nudists,” as the report put it, gathered in Lincoln Park, “with children around”; officers found the group at Fauntleroy and Webster, at which time, the report says, they all put their clothes back on and left. Johnson, identified as the leader of the group, is the only person charged, the court documents indicate. He is scheduled for an “intake hearing” in mid-January.
| 127 COMMENTS