Naked BART Man Was a Circus Acrobat Who Suffered a Nervous Breakdown
The naked man who was filmed running wild through San Francisco's 16th Street BART Station last month was identified late yesterday as 24-year-old Yeiner Garizabalo, a former circus acrobat who apparently suffered a nervous breakdown.
Slim Chance, who heads the Berkeley-based ClownSnotBombs Circus told the San Francisco Chronicle that Garizabalo, who goes by Yeiner Perez, was a member of the troupe until May, when he suddenly stopped showing up.
"He’s been through a lot of stress — he seems to have been having a breakdown," Chance told The Chronicle. "That seems to be the tip of it right there. I just can’t tell you anything more because I don’t really know what his state is. It’s not at all like his normal character."
Chance, who described Perez as a "workaholic acrobat," insisted that he didn't think drugs played a role in Perez's rampage.
"We’re thinking he may have even had a stroke sometime last year," he said. "We’ve been trying to piece it together ourselves."
In footage captured by a BART station agent, a clothes-less Perez can be seen attacking several commuters in between impressive acrobatic maneuvers.
He was ultimately arrested by San Francisco police officers, who arrived on the scene six minutes into the commotion.
BART police officers showed up a minute later.
In a statement to The Chronicle, a spokesman for BART says the officers arrived as quickly as they could.
SFist points out that they may have been occupied elsewhere, as another incident was taking place at the very same time in the tunnel between the 16th and 24th Street stations.
Perez was placed on an emergency psychiatric hold following a psychiatric evaluation at California Pacific Medical Center, but was ultimately released.
He has since had a warrant issued for his arrest by BART police, who are looking to charge him with misdemeanor battery.
UPDATE: The Chronicle updated its article to note that Perez was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor battery upon his discharge from the hospital, but was released from jail 48 hours later "because the district attorney’s office [had] not yet decided whether to file charges."
[There was a video here]
[mug shot via BART Police, photos via Facebook, Mission Mission via Marc Huestis via Facebook, ClownSnotBombs]