Man strips naked, jumps into Bass Pro Shops Leeds aquarium and knocks himself unconscious
A man is in custody and en route to a hospital for mental health treatment after he jumped naked into the massive aquarium at The Bass Pro Shop Leeds Thursday night.
Police Chief Paul Irwin said the incident happened about near closing time.
The man was reported to be acting erratically and drove a vehicle into a pole in the store parking lot.
After the crash, he got out of his vehicle, took off his clothes, ran into the Bass Pro Shop and jumped into the aquarium.
Video taken by bystanders showed the man do a cannonball into the aquarium and later stand under the waterfall.
As two Leeds police officers began to walk up the stairs, the man exited the water, yelled something to the officers and then dove back into the water.
He continued to shout something to officers before he climbed over the side of the aquarium and dropped to the concrete floor below, appearing to have been knocked out by the fall.
Officers handcuffed the man, who then woke up and began to try to struggle.
Someone covered him with a blanket as officers took him from the store.
Irwin said the man was only in the water for about five minutes before officers arrived.
He is being taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation.
The chief said the man will face charges for damage caused to the police vehicle after officers put him in the cruiser.