Drivers inundated 911 dispatchers with calls about the 39-year-old, who was seen on Pacific Avenue between the I-5 interchange and Lilly Road.
“It got so busy we would say ‘911, are you calling about the indecent exposure? The naked man on Pacific?’” said Tammy Clark, dispatch supervisor.
Some drivers called saying the man was elderly, said Olympia Police Sgt. Rich Allen.
“I don’t know what they were looking at, but one of the calls came in as him being 70 years old,” Allen said.
Police officers spoke with the man three times and issued two warnings before arresting him, Allen said.
“He was naked, and bystanders had tried covering him up with sleeping bags and offered him articles of clothing to put on,” he said. “When officers showed up, he’d put on the article, and when officers left, he’d take it off again.”
The man is accused of disturbing the peace. Allen said the 39-year-old tried to punch a corrections officer “without provocation” after his arrest. The officer was not injured and did not require medical attention.
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