Man allegedly mowed his lawn while naked

A 61-year-old man from Bay City, Michigan, is facing a criminal charge after neighbors complained to police that they saw him mowing his lawn while completely naked. At about 6:51pm on Wednesday, May 21, police responded to Bobby O. Blodgett's home in the city's Banks District after someone called 911 to report he was mowing his lawn naked. The caller, 40-year-old Jason S. Linton, told dispatchers he yelled at Blodgett to put some clothes on, and that Blodgett had done so.

Linton told a responding officer that he and his teenage son were visiting his mother-in-law in the neighborhood and that they were in her back yard when they heard a lawnmower start up. "Then the guy came walking out and started cutting his lawn in the nude," Linton said. "I yelled at him and told him that he needed to put some clothing on." Linton said that though there is a privacy fence separating the yards, there are gaps in it that one can see through. Linton's mother-in-law, Nancy M. Mercier, told the officer that a similar incident happened the week beforehand when Blodgett mowed his lawn wearing only lady's stockings.
"I don't need to see that," Mercier said. "I know he has a privacy fence but I can see through it." The officer spoke with Blodgett, who maintained Linton and Mercier were mistaken regarding what they claimed to have seen. "I was out in the back yard today mowing my lawn in my bikini briefs," he said, according to police reports. "I had on my underwear. I made a mistake. I was not naked. It won't happen again. I was never naked." The officer did not arrest Blodgett, but told him a report would be sent to the Bay County Prosecutor's Office for review.
The officer also advised him to dress appropriately when in his yard. Police reports did not specify whether Blodgett's mower was of the push or riding variety. Authorities issued a warrant for Blodgett's arrest on Wednesday, June 11. Two days later, Bay County District Judge Mark E. Janer arraigned him on one count of indecent exposure, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Janer granted Blodgett a personal recognizance bond and ordered that he have no contact with Linton, Mercier or Linton's son. Blodgett is to next appear in court to accept or reject a plea offer on Thursday, July 17.