The REAL naked cowboy: Man, 53, caught on video walking down Michigan highway in a blizzard wearing nothing
Footage of the man's barefoot I-75 trek in Auburn Hills was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday by user Francis Gojcaj.
'A man, roughly 50 to 60 years old, was walking on 75 freeway in the City of Auburn Hills Michigan during a blizzard,' the video's description says. 'Yee haw cowboy lol.'
'He's trying to open up car doors,' one bystander says in the clip. 'His truck's over here. Look at his truck. His clothes are all the way down the road. I just didn't want him to open a car door full of family or something, you know what I mean?'
Onlookers are heard saying 'What the hell?' and 'That's nuts' as the man puts his hands on his head in front of responding officers.
The Detroit News reported that the man seen on the highway Sunday is 53 years old and is a Bloomfield Hills resident.
Lt. Casimir Miarka told the newspaper 'It appears that he ran off the roadway and into the ditch. The report was the man was stripping off his clothes so I would assume [the police] found his clothes nearby.'
He said '[Police officers] transported him to the fire station to see what was going on, and they took him to the hospital. He was checked in and was being evaluated at the hospital.'
Miarka told The Detroit Free Press that it hasn't been determined if authorities will seek charges.
Gojcaj told the newspaper 'It's sad, you know, because you can only hope that there isn't some type of mental disorder here, or this man is undergoing some serious psychological issues. I have no idea what his intent was.'
In a Monday blog post, Auburn Hills Police Chief Doreen Alko said 'The sergeant and the officers immediately recognized that they were probably dealing with a person who was suffering from what we know as "Excited Delirium Syndrome."'
Alko wrote that 'The victims are usually male (average age 36); have a history of stimulant use like cocaine, meth, PCP, LSD.'
'These victims also tend to have a history of a preexisting psychological disorder and are likely to be chronic users after a binge,' Alko wrote. 'I don’t know if this man fit the entire profile but it is likely he fit enough of it to end up in this state.
'Their bodies overheat in an extreme way which is why they take off their clothes. They are very incoherent and usually combative. They are not generally cooperative with the police so a struggle can ensue in which their body further overheats and they can go into sudden cardiac arrest. If the officers aren’t prepared with medical nearby, the victim can die.
Alko wrote that 'The officers did their best to assist the family with the next steps. It is a difficult challenge for family members. I hope they are able to find sufficient help for him.'