Police in Daytona Beach, Florida, arrested “the Naked Cowboy,” a popular busker known for his performances in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday and have charged him with resisting arrest and panhandling.
The performer was in Daytona Beach for the annual Daytona Beach Bike Week, according to his Facebook page. Burck wore only white underwear, a multicolor straw hat and had a guitar placed over the front of his body to give an appearance of complete nakedness, the South Florida SunSentinel reported. The headstock of Burck’s guitar reportedly broke during his arrest. (RELATED: Naked Cowboy Flashes His Rump In Trump Tower)
Burck was not injured in the encounter and was taken Saturday into the Volusia County Jail, according to Click Orlando. He was released Sunday morning on a $600 bond, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
The 50-year-old Robert Burck “began taking photographs with multiple bystanders, while bystanders placed United States currency inside the guitar’s center sound hole in the area of Main St/S Fern Ln, which was approximately 10 feet away from the front door of a commercially zoned property at 810 Main St.,” his arrest report stated, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal. “The defendant’s actions violate Daytona Beach City Ordinance 66-1 (Panhandling).”
Burck also faces charges of “resisting a police officer without violence” for allegedly refusing to comply with an officer’s order and pulling away, the outlet reported. A video of the incident shows Burck leaning on a police cruiser, seemingly handcuffed.
WATCH:
The Naked Cowboy, a one-man tourist attraction often seen in New York City’s Times Square, is a regular sight at Daytona Beach Bike Week, according to the newspaper.
WATCH: Naked Cowboy performs on Times Square as snow falls around him pic.twitter.com/qwWhy9iohI
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 6, 2021
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the cowboy reportedly gained popularity for performing in the middle of Times Square, even when it was deserted, and even though he earned little to no money.