http://blastmagazine.com/the-news/local-news/2010/06/vermont-teen-beats-humidity-by-walking-naked-in-montpelier/Hot weather spurs nude walker in Montpelier, Vemont
Times Argus Staff - Published: June 29, 2010
MONTPELIER – What better way to beat the heat than…walk naked through the Capital City?
That was one 18-year-old woman's solution to the humidity on Monday afternoon, a tactic that turned heads and prompted a flurry of phone calls to the Montpelier Police Department starting at 1:26 p.m.
Police identified the woman and spoke with her but said there was little they could do from a law enforcement perspective.
"As long as they're not exhibiting any kind of overt gestures or communicating any kind of lewd act, then they're within their rights — if we'll use that word — to do that," said Sgt. Neil Martel of the Montpelier Police Department.
Police did not observe the woman doing anything that violated state laws or city ordinances, said Martel.
"We watched her and there wasn't anything going on that would have violated the ordinance," he said.
Martel said he had an officer go out and speak with the woman, whom he declined to name. "She just said it was a hot day, I guess, and she was taking a walk," said Martel.
The woman, who was accompanied by a male, made her way around the downtown, said Martel. She was reported on School Street and Main Street.
The nudity issue has come up in the past for Montpelier city officials surrounding the annual naked bike ride, which is allowed to happen in the city for the same reasons the pants-free pedestrian was allowed to saunter through the city Monday. Under the laws and ordinances, you can be nude outside but can't disrobe outside, said Martel.