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TAMPA - Certain insomniacs out for a postmidnight walk Monday morning might have rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren't dreaming.
Running down the street, with police in hot pursuit, was a man shedding all of his clothes, right down to his underwear.
Moments earlier, about 2:30 a.m., Marcus Gaynor had crashed a rental truck into a row of mailboxes in the 4500 block of W Gray Street, according to Tampa police.
Police say officers were chasing him as he was in a truck full of $25,000 worth of stolen liquor and cigars taken from Lazzara Family Liquor Catering at 4643 W Kennedy Blvd. Police responded to the break-in after the store's power lines were cut, alerting its alarm system, said Tampa Sgt. Jim Contento.
Moments later, with squad cars behind him and a police helicopter above, Gaynor bailed out of the truck as it was still moving and began running down the street, Contento said.
"He starts stripping off all his clothes, right down to his underwear," Contento said. "He's running out here in his underwear at 3 in the morning, running through yards and construction sites."
When officers caught up with him, Gaynor started throwing punches, giving one officer a black eye and causing another officer to need eight stitches in his arm, Contento said.
Gaynor, 24, of 1607 E Bougainvillea Ave., was subdued and later charged with a host of offenses, including burglary, possession of burglary tools, grand theft, fleeing and eluding police, leaving the scene of a crash, trespassing, and obstructing an officer.
He remained in the Orient Road jail on Monday on $11,250 bail.
Police were still stumped as to why Gaynor disrobed.
"Sometimes they try to change (clothes) to avoid detection," Contento said. "I don't understand stripping."