Naked man told officers he was making tree his home

Police and fire crews in Arab, Alabama were called to get a naked man out of a tree over the weekend. Police said the incident was drug-related, and the man had an interesting reason for being there.



After the incident, 40-year-old Michael Howard Long of Arab was charged with public lewdness and disorderly conduct. He was placed in the Arab City Jail on Saturday morning. Police said they received a call of a man more than 40 feet up a tree wearing no clothes.

They responded to Long's home at around 5am, with the fire department called in to assist. Authorities said Long did not want to come down, so they used a bucket truck to cut some branches in an attempt to reach him. Following an hour of negotiations, Long decided to take the ride safely to the ground, where he was arrested.



"Basically, all he would tell the officers was he was cleaning the tree up and was going to make it his home," said Assistant Police Chief Shane Washburn. Long went before a municipal judge on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to the public lewdness charge. The disorderly conduct charge was dismissed, and he was released from jail.

With news video.