Police Interrupt “Naked Bike Ride”

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Published about 2 years ago

The Claremont Police Department intercepted a group of 5-C students bicycling naked through the Village around 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 26.No arrests were made, police said, but several students were handcuffed, and an officer physically pulled one biker, Erica Reiss PO ’13, from her bicycle.“I think it was excessive and dangerous for him to take me down like that,” Reiss said. “We were non-threatening and…there was no danger until that douchebag officer put his hands on my naked body.”Police said the students were violating indecent exposure laws. In response to a telephone call, officers attempted to stop the group of more than 40 nude cyclists near the intersection of First Street and College Avenue.Participants in the bike ride said 12 students were stopped when a police vehicle tried to block the group’s path on First Street. The rest of the students continued cycling. When a second vehicle tried to cut them off, police Corporal David DeMetz grabbed Reiss, who was not injured in the incident.Two other students, Eric Stahl-David PI ’11 and Matt Goldbach PI ’11, stopped when they saw DeMetz take Reiss to the ground. All three students were handcuffed and told to sit on the curb. According to police, the students were released when witnesses opted not to press charges against them.The students shared the clothing they had and biked back to campus, where they undressed once again. The ride, which began at the Pitzer clock tower, concluded with a dance party in the Frary Courtyard fountain at Pomona College.“It will happen again,” Vincent Giannotti PI ’12 said. “It wasn’t just about being naked. It was about being free.”Other “naked bike rides” have occurred in the past, organized by the cycling community at Pitzer. Friday’s ride was in honor of a screening that night of the third installment in the film series “Bike Porn.”

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