A man arrested after being found naked and running in circles claiming snakes were after him appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Twenty-six-year-old Austin Greer of Jordan pled guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and commercial burglary and was put on probation for five years.
He was taken into custody shortly before 1 a.m. Sept. 3 last year.
According to the probable cause affidavit the incident began when a Baxter County sheriff’s deputy responded to a burglar alarm at Woods Feed Store along Highway 177 South.
The deputy reported the business owner also came to the scene.
The deputy knew Greer from previous contacts and asked him what was causing his odd behavior.
Greer is alleged to have responded that there had been a snake in his boot that crawled up his pants leg and began biting him.
He said he took off his clothes to get the snake off him. Greer said he had been running in circles because snakes, which he believed to be Copperheads or Water Moccasins, were chasing him and crawling into his body.
The probable cause affidavit switches from a single snake in his boot to a number of snakes chasing him.
As they talked, the deputy reported Greer continued to swat at his body in an effort to get the snakes off.
The owner of the business told the deputy the front door to his building had been kicked in.
Greer’s clothing was not found at the scene.
The deputy reported Greer’s pupils were dilated and that he was “very sweaty.” He was believed to be on “some kind of hallucinogen or other drug,” according to a sheriff’s office press release.
On the entire ride from the scene to the Baxter County Detention Center, Greer claimed snakes were all over the backseat of the patrol car, according to the deputy.
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