Watching bikers glide down the street on a warm evening can add a certain childlike charm to a neighborhood's ambiance. Unless the bikers are naked.
One female and four male university students received trespassing citations April 18 when police found them around 11:45 p.m. playing on the playground equipment at University Park Elementary School, according to police.
"The call that we received for juveniles riding in the nude; that's a little out of the ordinary for this community," said University Park Police Lt. Wayne McCully, whose police department covers the small residential community of about 2,300 people.
The naked riders threw on clothing from their bags when they saw an approaching patrol car, and they were partially dressed by the time police arrived, the students said. A second female rider, who was topless, escaped on her bicycle before police arrived, they said.
When police arrived, saying they were responding to a resident's phone complaint, only one of the students - Caitlin, a sophomore neurobiology and psychology major who declined to use her full name - was still partially nude. She was slapped with an indecent exposure citation a few days after the incident, said McCully.
"When the cop came, we all had our pants on at that point but not our shirts," said Caitlin, whose parents were called by police around 3 a.m. "My parents, the night they were called, were super angry. They were like, 'Caitlin, you're ridiculous. Find a way to pay the $500 [trespassing] fine.'"
A trespassing charge can result in up to a $500 fine and three months in jail, and indecent exposure can result in a $1,000 fine and up to three years in jail, according to Maryland law.
Maryland code doesn't specify exactly what constitutes indecent exposure, though attorney and government and politics professor Amir Sadeghy said a topless woman likely would fall under the definition.
Singling Caitlin out from the shirtless bunch probably would not be classified as gender discrimination, said Sadeghy, who is also the director of the university Mock Trial team.
But as if the bare bikers' night hadn't been odd enough, it grew stranger.
When police asked Caitlin for her ID, she said she didn't have it and initially gave the officer her brother's phone number instead of her parents'.
After police called her brother, he rode his bicycle to the scene. The officer responded by chasing him on foot for about five minutes before he escaped on his bike, Caitlin said. The officer dove in an unsuccessful attempt to catch her brother, injured his shoulder and then called for backup, the police report said.
About a week later, police arrived at Caitlin's brother's house. When his roommate opened the door, the police entered without consent, proceeded to the bathroom where Caitlin's brother was showering and served him citations for fleeing and interfering with police duties, the bikers said.
Sadeghy said the uninvited police entry could be illegal depending on the circumstances. Caitlin's brother could not be reached for comment, and police declined to comment because the case is still pending.
The students say police were overstepping their boundaries by cursing, chastising them and failing to read their Miranda Rights.
"He was judging us," said another joyrider, Nick, who has been dating Caitlin for six months. "He's like, 'What kind of a s---ty boyfriend are you?' You're judging me on how good a boyfriend I am? It's not your problem!"
Caitlin's parents were initially displeased with the couple's naked joyride and uninvited Nick to family dinners, but have since cooled down.
"[Police] called her parents and started rambling on about how bad of a boyfriend I am, which totally sucks because now her parents despise me," Nick said. "Her dad was saying, 'What kind of boyfriend lets his girlfriend ride naked in front of other guys?'"
The rogue nudists can't agree on who came up with the idea for the ride, though Nick was the only one with past experience.
"I always wanted to go naked bike riding," Caitlin said. "We had just finished doing a Critical Mass ride, and we were like, 'why not?' It's the first really nice night of spring."
Though police may not have agreed, Nick says bare-biking is a worthwhile, stimulating experience.
"You're enjoying the ride, being free as a bird on a bike," he said. "Oh man, it's better than taking a warm shower. It's the most refreshing thing there is."
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