A man walked into a Planet Fitness, stripped down, and began doing naked yoga in front of the other patrons who absolutely did not need to see any of that.
The naked man protested when police approached him, saying that he thought that Planet Fitness was a “judgment-free zone.”
Oh boy.
Eric Stagno is a 34-year-old man in Haverhill, Massachusetts. That’s right — Massachusetts, not Florida.
Police Captain Brett Morgan, whose name makes him sound like either an action hero or a porn star, told the Boston Globe all about the naked Planet Fitness guy.
“When officers arrived,” Morgan says. “They found him there, completely nude.”
Stagno was arrested at a Planet Fitness in Plaistow, New Hampshire after he arrived, disrobed, and began doing naked yoga poses, to the horror of other occupants.
Morgan says that Stagno was “on his knees in a yoga-type position,” when officers arrived.
Morgan continues, shedding light on the sequence of events that led to Stagno’s arrest.
“He walked into the gym,” Morgan says. “Stripped down at the door.”
There are places where you are allowed or even encouraged to strip down at the door. Planet Fitness is not one of them.
Stagno, Morgan says, “then proceeded to walk back and forth a couple of times.”
Please do not strut your stuff in front of a bunch of people who are just trying to live their lives.
The man apparently did this pacing “before settling in on the yoga mats.”
Eyewitnesses apparently felt “disgusted, sick, and unsafe” at Stagno’s unwelcome display.
““I look up and I did a double-take,” one witness reports.
“This guy just walked right by me,” that witness continues. “Completely naked.”
Yikes. Yikes. And more yikes.
Nudity is, of course, a natural state of being. If you are in a place where nudity is permitted, please feel free to be naked — so long as you do so with respect for those around you.
Stagno, it seems, was not concerned with how others felt.
When police approached Stagno, he apparently cited that Planet Fitness is supposed to be a “judgment-free zone.”
“At Planet Fitness, you belong,” the company writes on its website.
“Our non-intimidating, welcoming and supportive environment fosters a sense of community among our members,” the statement reads.
Perhaps Planet Fitness assumed that it was simply understood that nudity was not permitted.
“It’s not a clothing-free zone,” Morgan clarifies.
Stagno was arrested without incident, thankfully.
He was charged with indecent exposure/lewdness and disorderly conduct and released on $ 1,000 bail.
He is due back in court on September 21.
It is unclear if he was under the influence of any drugs — or perhaps lacking the needed influence of any potential prescriptions — when this incident took place.
If Stagno is in need of help, we hope that he gets it. Either way, we hope that he does not continue exposing himself to others without their consent.
Also … are we sure that he’s not from Florida? Because this whole story sounds like the twisted chronicles of Florida Man.
