LITTLEVILLE -- Police Chief William Nale has been in law enforcement for more than 30 years and said some of the calls he's been on never cease to amaze him.
One of those took place Monday morning when the department got a call about a naked man in the neighborhood near Twin Pines Country Club.
After responding to the call, police spotted the suspect.
"He was standing in a cornfield, picking the corn and eating it raw,'' Nale said. "He didn't have anything on, not even his shoes. He was as naked as the day he was born.''
The 26-year-old man from Michigan was taken into custody without trouble, authorities said. He was charged with indecent exposure.
"I asked him where his clothes were and he said he got hot (Sunday night), took them off and laid them on the railroad tracks and then couldn't remember where they were,'' the chief said.
Nale said that the suspect told authorities that he was a homeless drifter following the railroad tracks to south Alabama.
"He said he wanted to see the house where Forrest Gump lived,'' Nale said.
Gump is a fictional character in a novel by Winston Groom, of south Alabama. The character gained even more acclaim when the novel was adapted to film.
The chief said after being taken into custody, the man was taken to a local facility for a mental evaluation.
Nale said the department received a call late Sunday evening about a naked man banging on doors of houses on Lakeview Drive.
"Our officers along with members of the Russellville Police Department answered the call but couldn't find anyone,'' Nale said.
He said early Monday morning the calls started again.
"(The suspect) was seen again along Lakeview Drive and even at Twin Pines golf course,'' Nale said. "As I was driving around looking for him, a man stopped and asked if I was looking for the streaker. He said he had just crossed the road.
"A short distance away, he was spotted in the cornfield.''
Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.
