Streaker Arrested at Disneyland After Stripping Down on Iconic Ride
The 26-year-old suspect was arrested for 'indecent exposure and for being under the influence of a controlled substance.'
Riders aboard Disneyland's It's a Small World ride Sunday afternoon got more than they bargained for after a man removed his clothes at the Anaheim, California amusement park. The 26-year-old, who was not publicly identified, was arrested and accused of indecent exposure after he stripped down at around 1:30 p.m. local time and began wandering around the iconic attraction, videos of the incident quickly making their way to social media.
In one video, the unidentified man could be seen climbing over the animatronic figures and sitting in a representation of the Taj Mahal. A staff member could be heard screaming, "Stop, stop! I need you to stop. Please just stop, you're going to get hurt." A guest on the ride said, "Oh God, he's going to break all the stuff," as another quipped, "they should stop the music." In a separate video, the man was seen wading through the water completely naked before he eventually made his way outside the attraction, where he was later pictured walking around the park without clothes. Another video showed the man being led away by police.
Streaker on it’s a small world in Disneyland stripped in the ride and began walking around. He has been escorted naked from the park.
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 27, 2023
Video credit @iheartdisneyland on Instagram pic.twitter.com/0B7pwfA6BB
Guest Maegan Carmona told Entertainment Weekly that they noticed the man as "he started climbing onto the different parts of the ride, and we noticed that he was undressed." She said the man "just looked out of it. He just didn't look like he knew where he was. He looked worried. My friends and I had seen him, and it looked like he was going to jump on us." According to Carmona, one of the cast members "got him to sit down for a minute," but "after that he continued walking in the opposite direction, behind us. Once he got to a different part of the ride, he ended up walking into the water and started drinking the water, and ran off toward the entrance of the ride."
Anaheim Police Sgt. Jon McClintock confirmed that "upon officers' arrival, they arrested a 26-year-old man for indecent exposure and for being under the influence of a controlled substance. The man was taken to a hospital as a precaution."
A Disneyland Resort representative told Deadline that the man got off the attraction while it was in motion and park operators stopped the ride when they became aware of the situation. Amid the incident, the ride was shut down as a precaution. It later reopened at around 3 p.m. No guests were harmed physically during the incident, with one guest telling FOX11 Los Angeles that the cast members near the ride "did an excellent job handling the situation to the best of their abilities."