man rides bike daily through city park with only thong on
Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 8:16 am
SAN ANTONIO -- A 52-year-old man who regularly rides his bike in a city park wearing only a black thong has received dozens of complaints but says he'll keep on pedaling because it's his legal right.
"We all claim to believe in the value of personal liberty, but we don't," Joseph Gottschalk said in Monday's editions of the San Antonio Express-News. "No one person has the right to outrank the law and tell me what to wear."
By law, Gottschalk is allowed to wear the thong as long as it covers the appropriate parts. "It doesn't take much clothing to take care of the requirement," he said.
San Antonio Park Police said they've received several complaints about Gottschalk in the past month. In the past four years, police have contacted Gottschalk about his skimpy attire at least 20 times.
"This is unique, let me tell you. Normal general public doesn't do that," Park Police Capt. Raymond Castro said. "But he's within his civil rights and legal rights to wear his thong."
The sight of Gottschalk pedaling around Southside Lions Park disturbed Ivonne Castoreno so much that she changed her walking schedule after she and her 13-year-old son saw him a few times.
"Look at this guy -- you know, he's not hiding much," said Castoreno, 33. "Keep it in the bedroom."
Gottschalk's neighbor, 57-year-old Betty Seibold, said she's seen him mowing his lawn and washing his truck in the same thong. "His behavior may seem strange to us, but we are all a little strange in different ways," she said. "We are all eccentric."
maybe we should send him a storm2k thong to wear
"We all claim to believe in the value of personal liberty, but we don't," Joseph Gottschalk said in Monday's editions of the San Antonio Express-News. "No one person has the right to outrank the law and tell me what to wear."
By law, Gottschalk is allowed to wear the thong as long as it covers the appropriate parts. "It doesn't take much clothing to take care of the requirement," he said.
San Antonio Park Police said they've received several complaints about Gottschalk in the past month. In the past four years, police have contacted Gottschalk about his skimpy attire at least 20 times.
"This is unique, let me tell you. Normal general public doesn't do that," Park Police Capt. Raymond Castro said. "But he's within his civil rights and legal rights to wear his thong."
The sight of Gottschalk pedaling around Southside Lions Park disturbed Ivonne Castoreno so much that she changed her walking schedule after she and her 13-year-old son saw him a few times.
"Look at this guy -- you know, he's not hiding much," said Castoreno, 33. "Keep it in the bedroom."
Gottschalk's neighbor, 57-year-old Betty Seibold, said she's seen him mowing his lawn and washing his truck in the same thong. "His behavior may seem strange to us, but we are all a little strange in different ways," she said. "We are all eccentric."
maybe we should send him a storm2k thong to wear
