For the 10th consecutive year, Halloween night in Boulder, CO has included a Naked Pumpkin Run, where participants take to the streets wearing only a carved out pumpkin on their heads. However, this year’s Naked Pumpkin Run was not without incident as some naked runners and those who came to cheer them on clashed with police officers who arrived on the scene and began issuing tickets for indecent exposure.

According to a report in the Boulder Daily Camera, about a dozen naked people in pumpkin heads received tickets as the run began at 10:45 p.m. on Friday evening. The police action was met with protests as hundreds of other naked runners and costumed citizens began chanting– “Let them go!” and “find real criminals.”

A police spokesperson said that the number of naked runners this year far exceeded the usual number, and there was concern for people’s safety. “We wanted to do something before (the Naked Pumpkin Run event) got out of hand,” said Police Chief Mark Beckner. “This was a good opportunity to enforce the law.”

In years past, it was rare that the police would ticket participants of the run. But, Chief Becker said the reason for that was due to a shortage in police staffing. However, Halloween happened to fall on a Friday this year, and many more officers were scheduled to work.
Beckner went on to liken the naked runners to speeders, saying– police can’t catch them all, but they do what they can.