BOULDER — If the Naked Pumpkin Run returns to Boulder this Halloween, police say they will be ready, but this time with a less severe penalty.
Officers who catch runners barreling down the Pearl Street Mall wearing nothing but pumpkins on their heads will issue municipal tickets for violating the city’s new public nudity law, which comes with possible fines, said Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner.
Before the Boulder City Council passed a municipal ordinance in April prohibiting nudity, officers issued state public indecency and indecent exposure tickets for offenses such as streaking, which came with the possibility of hefty penalties, including having to register as a sex offender.
In 2008, when hundreds of nude runners participated in the annual Halloween event, 12 people were ticketed under the state law and had to fight the sex-offense penalty in court. In the end, none of them had to register as sex offenders, but as a result of the scare, participants covered up in 2009.
Even with the new ordinance in place this year, it’s unclear whether any nude runners will participate on Halloween.
On the Naked Pumpkin Run’s Yahoo group, someone posted on Wednesday, “Is there a 2010 run?” Another person wrote, “There should be,” and another person posted, “Not unless someone steps up to organize it.”
“It didn’t happen last year, and we think it’s over,” Beckner said. “But we will be ready if it’s not.”
