Times Square's 'Naked Cowboy' Robert Burck Arrested In Florida
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Times Square's "Naked Cowboy" was arrested on a misdemeanor panhandling charge at Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Court records show Robert Burck, 51, who is widely known for wearing only white briefs, boots and a cowboy hat while playing a brightly colored guitar, was arrested Saturday while performing at the annual event on Florida's Atlantic coast. Burck is a regular at Bike Week.
Daytona Beach police said Burck was arrested after officers spotted people tucking dollar bills into his guitar after taking photographs.
Burck is something of a fixture in Times Square and often can found doing the same thing there.
"The defendant began taking photographs with multiple bystanders, while bystanders placed United States currency inside the guitar's center sound hole in the area of Main St/S Fern Ln, which was approximately 10 feet away from the front door of a commercially zoned property at 810 Main St.," arresting officers wrote in a report. "The defendant's actions violate Daytona Beach City Ordinance 66-1 (Panhandling)," an arresting officer wrote in a report.
He was released from jail Sunday morning following a first appearance hearing, Volusia County court records show. An attorney for Burck, of Woodside, New York, was not listed on court records.
Video on Burck's Facebook page, The Naked Cowboy, showed him performing and taking pictures with fans Saturday morning. A video posted to YouTube shows a police officer attempting to get a handcuffed Burck, whose guitar was still hanging from a strap around his neck, into a patrol car.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)