FARMINGTON — Police said a Farmington man was arrested Monday after appearing in his yard near Center Bridge naked.
Police have received several calls about Joel Batzell, 64, since Thursday, Farmington Police Department secretary Rachel Heseltine said.
The other incidents, including waving a cane and yelling at traffic or appearing on the road median or small park across the street in a diaper or bathrobe, were not criminal issues, she said. Most callers expressed concern for his welfare, she said.
Batzell told police his actions are part of a movie he is making, she said.
Police received multiple complaints about 8:30 a.m. Monday that Batzell was in his yard naked, officer Ryan Wagner said.
Police responded, but Batzell went inside before they arrived, Heseltine said. Police went back a couple hours later, and Wagner arrested him on a charge of indecent conduct and took him to Franklin County Detention Center.
On Thursday, drivers called to say a man was on Center Bridge, sitting on a guardrail waving at traffic, she said. Police went to check on his welfare.
On Friday, July 11, calls came about him obstructing traffic on the bridge. He was waving a cane at vehicles that passed.
On Saturday, there were calls about a vehicle, fitting a description of his car, being driven on the wrong side of the road in Fairbanks near Jack’s Trading Post. Police were unable to locate him on the road but contacted him later about another issue and warned him about his driving, she said.
The first call on Sunday was about him being in the middle of the road and stopping traffic, she said. When police arrived, he was on the side of the road. They stayed in the area to be sure that he stayed off the road, she said..
A second call came Sunday about him running around looking in car windows as they drove by, she said. His residence is near the stoplights and intersection of Routes 2 and 4 and Bridge Street on the West Farmington side of the bridge.
Other calls received included ones about Batzell yelling at a sign, screaming at traffic and running around the green space across the road in a diaper and playing with a stuffed toy, she said.
Batzell was not in danger, and it’s not a criminal act when he runs around in a bathrobe or what is often a soiled diaper, she said.
Another caller Sunday told police that Batzell was laying in the middle of the traffic island at the Bridge Street turn. He was fine and told police it was part of his movie, she said.
The department has dealt with Batzell periodically since the 1960s. It is an ongoing issue, she said. Each time police respond to check on him, as they have for 10-plus times over the last few days, it takes at least a half-hour, she added.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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