By Cindy Swirko - Gainesville Sun Staff writer
A woman spotted running naked down a Gainesville street early Saturday morning led to the arrest of three women on charges of indecent exposure, according to the Gainesville Police Department.
The three had been at a party and appeared to be drunk when arrested, said Gainesville police Sgt. Bruce Giles.
About 1:08 a.m., officer Stephanie Pridgen saw Shin-Ping Lao, 22, of Raleigh, N.C., running without clothes on westbound in the 1100 block of Northwest 5th Avenue, according to an arrest report.
Then officers found two other naked women hiding in the shrubbery in the immediate area -- Rachel Lindsey Stewart, 22, of 517 SW 12th St., Apt. 2; and Paige Ford Miller, 21, of 517 SW 12th St., Apt. 2, the report stated.
The women told police they had just come from a party on Northwest 12th Street, the report stated. Their clothes were found in the front yard of 409 NW 12th St.
"It was a prank. They were intoxicated," Giles said. "They left their clothes near the party when they decided to run around the block, where the officer spotted them."