Police Capture Naked Swordsman

A snowstorm was blowing outside when the naked man walked into a convenience store and headed for the beer cooler.

The man wasn’t empty-handed, however. He had a 3-foot, double-edged sword that he raised and pointed at the store clerk’s chest early Saturday, said police Lt. Nelson Bartley.

“I’m thirsty,” the man told the clerk, according to Bartley.

The clerk raised his hands and backed away. As the clerk called police, the naked customer turned and left the store without taking anything.

Bartley said police caught up with Michael L. Hicks a few blocks from the store and arrested him without a struggle.

Police wrapped him in a blanket and charged him with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and public indecency. Hicks, 29, was jailed in lieu of $500 bail.