Naked man found in church fountain ‘baptizing’ himself, Arizona police say
A naked man was caught “baptizing” himself in an Arizona church and arrested, police said.
A woman reported seeing the 20-year-old man and called police at 2:42 p.m. Saturday, April 15, at One Life Church in Mesa, police said in a probable cause statement.
She asked the man to leave the property multiple times but he wouldn’t, authorities said.
At one point, the man grabbed a blanket and went to another part of the church’s property, police said.
Police found the man naked with the blanket, and he said he was in the fountain “baptizing himself.”
He was initially arrested on charges of indecent exposure and criminal trespassing.
But as he was being booked into a holding facility, he struck a detention officer in the head and also hit the arresting officer, police said.
He now faces additional charges of aggravated assault of an officer, aggravated assault of a correctional officer and resisting arrest using physical force.
This story was originally published April 19, 2023 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Naked man found in church fountain ‘baptizing’ himself, Arizona police say."
