A 40-year-old Florida man named Christopher Marlowe was arrested and charged with trespassing at a shopping plaza in Palm Bay. Marlowe, for reasons unknown, was wearing a Ronald McDonald-style costume, which prompted a verbal back-and-forth with the arresting officer.
Videos by Wide Open Country
According to CBS12, the incident took place on March 24 at the Interchange Plaza, located at 1155 Malabar Road NE. Reportedly, Marlowe had been yelling and was loitering for no reason at all at the property.
Body cam footage shared by the Palm Bay Police Department (PBPD) shows a police officer approaching Marlowe. Bizarrely, he was wearing a clown costume resembling Ronald McDonald and a big red nose. While officers attempted to arrest Marlowe, video footage shows him resisting. "I'm not trespassed, and I'm gonna come back," he told the officers.
Marlowe also began cussing at the officers. The PBPD, adding to the weirdness of the situation, bleeped Marlowe's foul language with clown noises.
"Don't go anywhere. Chris, you're not free to leave," the police officer tells Marlowe. "You're under arrest now. Put your stuff down." Marlowe is seen resisting further and even says, "Why so you can rob me?"
A Clown
Eventually, the officer had enough of Marlowe and took him down to the ground, where he put handcuffs on the clown-dressed suspect. Then, once placed in the police backseat, the officer told Marlow, "You look like a clown." Marlowe immediately responded, "No s*** I am a clown, stupid."
If the incident was not bizarre enough, police officers began searching through Marlowe's backpack. Inside, they found more yellow and red clown costumes as well as red noses.
Christopher Marlowe was charged with trespass on property other structure or conveyance and resisting an officer with violence, as per CB1S12. According to the New York Post, Marlowe has been charged previously with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Referencing the content of the body camera footage, the PBPD captioned the video with a quip. "What do you call someone who returns to a shopping plaza after they've been Trespassed? ....a clown," they wrote.
"Everyone has a right to feel safe in public spaces," they added. "We're committed to addressing those who repeatedly refuse to respect that."
