Naked Cowboy Promenades Down 1-75 in Blizzard: Watch

A witness snapped a cell phone video of an encounter between police and a naked man who was walking down I-75 during Sunday’s blizzard. (Screenshot: Francis Gojcaj video on YouTube)

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A 53-year-old Bloomfield Hills man caused a sensation as he strolled down middle of the northbound travel lanes of I-75 wearing only a cowboy hat during the third-worst snowstorm in metro Detroit’s history Sunday.

Auburn Hills police said they received numerous calls about the man’s naked promenade along the congested stretch of roadway about 11:30 a.m., the Detroit Free Press and MLive.com report.

About 11:30 a.m., the man’s pickup slid into a ditch along the highway. He was apparently fully clothed at the time, but when he exited, he began shedding articles of clothing as he walked along the interstate, Auburn Hills Police Lt. Casimir Miarka said.

Police are baffled as to why, Miarka told The Detroit News.

“We really don’t know … why he did what he did,” he said. “He never told us why he did this.”

Miarka said the man didn’t appear to be injured and cooperated with police.

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The man was transported to the Auburn Hills fire station, then taken to an area hospital for evaluation. It’s unclear if the man will face charges of indecent exposure, Miarka said. The primary concern at the time was getting medical treatment for the man.

A witness, Francis Gojcaj, 35, of Waterford recorded and posted a video of the bizarre scene on YouTube. He said the man was trying to open car doors and had strewn his clothing along the highway.

“It’s sad, you know, because you can only hope that there isn’t some type of mental disorder here, or this man is undergoing some serious psychological issues,” he told the Free Press. “I have no idea what his intent was.”

The encounter was the second involving public nudity on a highway in a week in the Oakland County suburbs. On Tuesday, a naked man sprinted toward the sun in Madison Heights, explaining to police, “I need to go where the sun is at,” he said.

The individual in that case was less cooperative. Detective Sgt. Mark Zupic of the Madison Heights Police Department told The Detroit News officers had to wrestle the suspect to the ground and restrain him with handcuffs. He was admitted to an area hospital for evaluation.

“It’s never fun to wrestle a naked man,” Zupic said. “And we never did find his clothes.”

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