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Naked driver arrested in West Frankfort
By Tara Fasol, The Southern
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 11:04 AM CST
WEST FRANKFORT - City officials want to welcome everyone to West Frankfort, but they ask that drivers keep their pants on.

"West Frankfort is not a nudist colony, so everyone needs to keep their clothes on," Mayor Marion Presley said.

West Frankfort police arrested a Marion man Monday for driving through town in the nude, Police Chief Jeff Tharp said.

Justin Flora, 34, was charged with two counts of public indecency after several female motorists reported a man driving around town without wearing a shirt, pants, or anything else.

"They said he pulled up next to them and was completely nude and he just sat there looking at them," the chief said.

"He liked to drive around in the nude and look at the women," Tharp said. "Evidently, West Frankfort has a lot of pretty women."

Flora told police he didn't mean to offend anyone, although witnesses relayed a different story.

Tharp said the reports were disturbing and were handled with immediate action. He said inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated and perpetrators will be prosecuted.

State law defines public indecency as an adult performing a sexual act, sexual conduct and lewd exposure publically.

The crime is a Class A misdemeanor offense and a person charged on a third offense of the crime is eligible for prosecution on a Class 4 felony charge.

tara.fasol@thesouthern.com

351-5824

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BACK AT YOU HOLY COW wrote on Feb 1, 2008 2:43 PM:

" Yup, some weird things happen once in a while around here. The good news is that this is nothing compared to what happens in the other State of Illinois (Chicago and vicinity).

P.S. Holy Cow... we don't miss you either. "

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Yea wrote on Feb 1, 2008 2:37 PM:

" Naked is cool!!! "

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kelley joe wrote on Feb 1, 2008 2:24 PM:

" Well if it was my wife who would have seen him, she would probaly just laugh at him. Like how close do you have to be to a car to see sombody nekkid inside? I guess living in Europe, I got used to people running around nekkid as jaybirds. Went skinny-dipping a few times myself. I guess it could have gotten ugly if he was caught in Williamson County. The thought of being tazered while in the nude would have to be rough. And good thing it wasn't Sesser either, as a fireman might have seen it and got Post Tramatic Stress Disorder and try to sue his pants off, well,if he had any. "

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Seriously?? wrote on Feb 1, 2008 12:12 PM:

" I drive around West Frankfort all the time naked! None of you have?? Jeez, wake up people, it's AWSOME! "

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reality wrote on Feb 1, 2008 10:14 AM:

" Get REAL is stuck in the 1950's (I wonder if HE is the guy who was arrested). The world has changed, move on. So your wife would have whipped his tail huh? How do you know that? What if he had a gun? What if he is an ultimate fighter? The problem is not to be solved by a vigilante, it is by experts who will determine his mental state. You can't dismiss this as some guy trying pathetically to pickup women, he could be a thug. Do some research on rapists before you make your comments. "

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Reality? wrote on Feb 1, 2008 7:24 AM:

" Reality, why would a naked man pull up to a woman who was holding a gun and say he is going to kill the woman. I would think the woman with the gun would have a better chance of killing the naked man who didn't have a gun. "

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hmmm wrote on Feb 1, 2008 7:17 AM:

" Hey reality, pulling up to a woman with a gun and saying you're going to kill her is not rape. Aggravated assault yes. Unlawful use of a weapon, yes. But rap, nope.

I think you all are jumping off the deep end here. Most people who would drive around naked are not doing it to rape someone. The simple act of driving around naked is enough to get them off and send them home happy. It's just like a panty thief... he just wants to steal underwear and go home. He is not interested in the person wearing the underwear, he just wants the underwear.

So, you all need to settle down a bit. And really, hold off on the women and children bit. You're only promoting a society of fear. "

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Reality wrote on Jan 31, 2008 12:09 PM:

" Do not make light of this situation. If not caught, his next action may been rape. Would you all be joking if he pulled up to the women with a gun and said he was going to kill them? "

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Get REAL wrote on Jan 31, 2008 12:01 PM:

" there are a couple of posting on here that are WAY too dramatic and over the top. I can tell you that if he had approached my wife, he would have received the biggest tail whipping and would NOT have done it again!! It's women like you who take things out of context and make it much worse than what it already is. I suspect Rape-Child molestation doesn't even like men in any capacity so whatever she says is total bull! Anyway, he will be stuck with this stupid act for the rest of his life so we don't need ladies who have nothing better to do than to heighten tentions in an already sad and sorry state of affairs. "

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Herrinite wrote on Jan 31, 2008 10:18 AM:

" His behaviour might not be normal but in Southern Illinois, who does behave normally? What is normal? Think about yourself, your neighbors and family. Everyone has a quirk, whether it be nudism, crossdressing, swinging, same sex relationships, criminal activity, drugs. Southern Illinois is one seriously messed up place. "

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Rape - Child molestation wrote on Jan 31, 2008 7:26 AM:

" I think it is awful that you can get on here and say whatever you want about about a person or make a joke about such a serious problem. I have no idea what that man's intentions were, but I do know that if you had a daughter, mother, sister or wife walking around town(any town not just good ol WF)you would not want them approached by some strange man driving around naked. The women were not in cars either. One was out running and one was at the car wash- BOTH were ALONE. HE approached them! Quit with the jokes and be glad that you don't know rape victims , children that have been kidnapped or children that have been molested. IF you did, you wouldn't sit around and laugh about this. For everyone's information- the second night the man was in town he was ONE BLOCK from the public library! He probably drove right next to it. Isn't that a little scary? Get the man help and leave everyone alone! "

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holy cow wrote on Jan 31, 2008 6:22 AM:

" your right-good ole southern illinois!!!I lived down there for 12 years and never seen some of the most messed up things ever in my life then I did when I lived there.I dont miss it a bit. "

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marion woman again wrote on Jan 31, 2008 4:10 AM:

" this man didnt have a girlfriend he had a wife and two young kids. so stop and thank about them. its not just him that is going through all this it is his family to. they have to up root their lives and move on. and thats what we should all do. just move on and leave him alone. he is going to pay for all that he did and dont need no help from us
"

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Re: Miss Q wrote on Jan 30, 2008 10:44 AM:

" I agree! Never a dull moment! And people wonder why this area is looked down upon... "

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Miss Q wrote on Jan 30, 2008 8:54 AM:

" There's no place like good 'ol Southern Illinois!!!! "

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marion woman wrote on Jan 30, 2008 3:27 AM:

" ok guys all the jokes are not helping at all what so ever. yes what this guy did was wrong. but just because he has some mental problems doesnt mean that this needs to be made in to a big comedian laugh out. did anyone stop to think that this mans family is going through enough then to top it off they have to lesson to all this. give them a break. this could of easly been someone in your family. stop and think about that for a while. we all live in glass houses and this could of easliy been one of your family members. i pray that this man gets the help that he needs and that his family gets through this problem.
"

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Dawn wrote on Jan 29, 2008 10:27 PM:

" I wish men would drive around salem naked. I would have something funny to laugh at. "

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Mojo wrote on Jan 29, 2008 8:16 AM:

" I told you all we already had an amusement park in So. Il. - Franklin Co. USA! "

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Lighten up wrote on Jan 28, 2008 9:15 AM:

" Come on folks, I know it's easy to make fun of the guy and what happened, but after all is said and done, the man seriously needs some help. He's embarrassing himself and our community. Making fun of him doesn't help his problems or the situation. "

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BobbyR wrote on Jan 28, 2008 8:00 AM:

" Maybe they can rename the town West Frankfurter? "

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Todd wrote on Jan 28, 2008 6:58 AM:

" I guess this is how people act when they have too much power at work and think they are above the law. "

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WOW wrote on Jan 28, 2008 12:12 AM:

" At least this time a Willamson County Law officer wasn't involved. Not yet! "

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Dennisg40 wrote on Jan 26, 2008 6:08 PM:

" Since this story ran in late January 2008, if this guy likes to drive around naked in January I think the police could have cured him of the habit by keeping him spread eagle on the side of car for at least 45 minutes like they do any ordinary search for guns and or drugs. By the time the he got to jail he would have been kissing the jail floor and looking for a radiator. "

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misunderstood wrote on Jan 25, 2008 9:37 AM:

" I'm sure he is a confused and innocent individual. However, now he will be scared from his traumatic brush with the law and will probably develop hard feelings towards the arresting officers. "

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Malcolm Boura wrote on Jan 24, 2008 12:35 PM:

" What a strange world we live in. A guy was behaving quite unacceptably, driving around town to gawp and leer at the women. Nudity may cause irrational offence to some people but it never harmed anyone. So what is he arrested for? The nudity of course. How can we ever expect to deal effectively with people like him when the real problem is missed. "

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Jessi Hurley wrote on Jan 24, 2008 9:03 AM:

" I heard this on the way to work today on Steve and DC and was laughing so hard!!!! Gotta love some of the people in Southern Illinois that crawl out of the wood work. "

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whats next wrote on Jan 23, 2008 7:56 PM:

" will they ban smoking in public next? "

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WOW wrote on Jan 23, 2008 2:25 PM:

" This brings back memories of when Dr. Campanella from DuQuoin was charged after he was driving nude on the interstate and doing things that you just shouldn't do in the driver's seat. Why would anyone want to do this? Is this guy that crazy? Does he really think people want to see his body? Obviously he didn't think about any children that might be in the car with those women. "

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JerryW wrote on Jan 23, 2008 1:35 PM:

" Must be due to global warming.
"

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JerryW wrote on Jan 23, 2008 1:35 PM:

" Must be due to global warming. "

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Honest Abe wrote on Jan 23, 2008 1:16 PM:

" Maybe he was having a difficult time finding his gear shift!!! "

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Ed wrote on Jan 23, 2008 11:58 AM:

" If the idiot needed to gawk at skin while nude, the cops could have taken him to a meat locker and left him cuffed and alone for about 5 mins while still nude. After freezing his you-know-what off he might just learn that he just made a big mistake! "

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Milorad wrote on Jan 23, 2008 10:07 AM:

" I qouldn't complain if women drove around nude. "

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Amazed! wrote on Jan 23, 2008 10:07 AM:

" What is wrong with people?! And why don't people like this find others who are as strange as they are instead of pushing this off on the public.

Sit in your garage and let your girlfriend look at you you PERV! "

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Seriously wrote on Jan 23, 2008 10:03 AM:

" Get the man some help. "

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steevj wrote on Jan 23, 2008 9:26 AM:

" I believe the police couldn't wait to get their hands on that guy. "

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Anon wrote on Jan 23, 2008 8:36 AM:

" I notice all the complaining women sure looked tho,huh?
"

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