Naked Men And Cop Car Thieves

Everybody remembers that episode of COPS (in Philly!) where the police arrest the slippery naked guy. But what about that other one, I forget where, where the guy hops away while cuffed? That’s sort of my favorite, besides the one in Utah (or some similar place) where the cops are on the case of the missing cow.

Anyway, this is all just an excuse to lead into two great stories today: (1) The man in Lancaster who trashed a grocery store while naked and (2) the man in Philadelphia who, while cuffed, managed to slip into the front of a police cruiser and steal the car and drive it to Camden.

In Lancaster, 28-year-old Nicholas Hadzick — “under the influence of something,” said an onlooker — allegedly ran naked in Willow Valley Resort, driving a forklift into a wall, before moving over to Darrenkamp’s Market, throwing chairs and knocking over a pizza oven. Oh, and there was a Good Samaritan as well! (Good thing the Samaritans moved to Lancaster!)

Becky Bednar, front-end supervisor at Darrenkamp’s said she didn’t see Hadzick at first from her office, but saw chairs flying across the floor. “That’s when I called 911,” she said. Bednar said customers remained calm, moving out of line when Hadzick told them. She added that staff remained calm as well, knowing not to agitate him. As for her own recollection of the incident, Bednar joked, “It was more fun than a girl should have.”

Hadzick also apparently threatened a man contracted to clean the market’s floors by raising a chair at him and he allegedly raised a fist at a cashier, Darrenkamp said. Otherwise, “no one was hurt, thank God.” And there was at least one “guardian angel” at the store, an unidentified man who tried to calm Hadzick down, buying him a pack of cigarettes.

A store video shows a young man wearing jeans, a white shirt and a jacket vest walking alongside the naked Hadzick, who appears to have a cigarette in his mouth. “I’d like to thank him 100 times,” Darrenkamp said, adding he was eager to know the Good Samaritan’s identity. “It was amazingly brave of this person,” agreed Bednar.

The police car thief was handcuffed in the back of a cruiser, before somehow slipping through to the driver’s seat. The car was apparently left on, and after crashing the cop car in Camden, the man ran away. Lt. Frank Verone said that “everyone involved will have to explain what happened.” The dude wasn’t naked, though, so the story just isn’t as fun.

Oh, and apparently a nude man is dead and a cop is shot in Camden. So much nudity in the news!

Naked, he runs amok [Lancaster Online (aka LOL)]
Handcuffed suspect flees in police car [Inquirer]