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Still naked, Parade prancer won?t tell cops who he is

A naked man arrested Tuesday on Grand Parade is getting used to swinging free.

Authorities at Halifax provincial court had to leave him downstairs during his arraignment yesterday because he refused to put on clothes to appear before Judge Bill Digby. The man had been waiting in a holding cell to make his first court appearance on three criminal charges.

It?s rare for an accused to stay in custody during an arraignment, but occasionally, the person is unruly or refuses to co-operate with sheriff?s officers. In this case, defence lawyer John Black appeared on the man?s behalf, with his consent, and the proceeding went ahead as usual.

Officers used a Taser on the man after a brief struggle, which took place at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, near the Barrington Street entrance to Grand Parade. It?s unclear why he?d doffed his clothes.

Witnesses said the man was prancing around in the nude.

Man of mystery

Whoever he is remains a mystery.

The four officers involved could find no identification on him and the man has refused to divulge his name or any personal information. He is listed in court documents as John Doe, with no fixed address and an unknown date of birth.

Police have charged the man with resisting Const. Jason Withrow in the course of the officer?s duties, causing a disturbance in a public place and committing an indecent act by exposing his genitals.

He was remanded to the forensic unit in Burnside yesterday for a mental-health assessment and is scheduled to return to court Dec. 15 to enter a plea to the charges.

Halifax Regional Police spokesman Sgt. Don Spicer said officials may have to take the man?s fingerprints and check them against a database to try to identify him.

Jamie Mackenzie of Timberlea, who saw the arrest during his way back from the gym on Tuesday, complained that police officers went overboard in their attempts to subdue the naked man.

Another witness, however, claimed otherwise and said he saw the man throw one of the cops to the ground. A woman who viewed the scuffle from the World Trade and Convention Centre said it took three or four cops to pin him down.

What the newspaper doesn't mention, because it's obvious to us here in Halifax, is that he was doing his prancing in sub-zero weather. Furthermore, people at a major tourism conference were the ones who initially noticed him. While Halifax city administration was trying to sell the city to travel agencies and cruise ship lines, they noticed this man prancing around the parade square in his birthday suit.

He?s also not making any sort of political statements. He?s not deaf. He just refuses to offer any explanation as to who he is or why he did what he did.

I love my story.

He must be very, very brave to run around in the cold with nothing on.

A friend of mine also happened to see him, and says that he was definitely prancing. She said prancing was definitely the word for what he did.