ARLINGTON — He reportedly wanted to sunbathe in the buff but ended up indoors wearing green-and-white striped jail coveralls.
An Arlington man, 60, was arrested Thursday for investigation of stalking and three counts of indecent exposure after allegedly ditching his clothes along the riverfront.
He came to the attention of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office after a woman, 34, reported seeing the man naked three times along two stretches of the Stillaguamish River earlier this week.
A deputy located the man nude at Blue Stilly Park on Thursday, according to court records.
The man, who has receding hair and a white mustache, told a deputy on his ride to jail that he is not a criminal. He chose not to make a statement explaining his actions.
The woman told deputies that she first encountered the man on Tuesday. She said she was walking with her dog near the 6600 block of Dike Road when she heard someone clear his throat. She said she looked over to see the man standing in the bushes naked and staring at her. She left.
Two days later, she was walking her dog at Blue Stilly Park when she was approached by a fully clothed man. She didn’t immediately recognize him, but he told her he liked to sunbathe nude, court papers said.
The woman told him she thought nude sunbathing would be OK in the privacy of a back yard but not in a public park where she sometimes brings her children.
The man also described the make of a car he noticed in the parking lot and asked if it was hers.
Moments later, she realized it was the same man she’d seen nude two days earlier.
She walked to the end of the park and turned around to see the man nude again.
She decided she would drive to another stretch of riverfront in the 6600 block of Dike Road.
She was there a short time when she saw the man sitting on the sand nude and facing her, according to court papers.
He then walked a few feet away from her.
A judge on Friday released the man from jail pending possible gross misdemeanor charges. She ordered him to have no contact with the woman.
Eric Stevick: stevick@heraldnet.com, 425-339-3446
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