Professional aerial acrobat gets handcuffed at the beach for wearing skimpy bikini
Myrtle beach Mayor John Rhodes says "There's been a law the last 16 years against thongs - period."
A professional acrobat was handcuffed on Myrtle beach, South Carolina last weekend after a woman called in a complaint about her wearing an itsy bitsy skimpy thong bikini.
Sam Panda, a professional aerialist with a huge social media following, was enjoying a day in the sun with friends when police officers showed up and put her in cuffs. Panda was led off the beach as she demanded for the officers to show her which law on the penal code states that she can't wear a bikini on the beach.
Local police claim that a call came from a woman who complained of two women "who were wearing thong bikinis and a see-through top that were dancing and soliciting videos on the beach."
"You put me in handcuffs for being in a thong!" the acrobat protested while begging the cop restraining her to let her go.
Once they approached the police vehicle, the officer then read aloud an ordinance stating "it shall be unlawful for anyone to appear in the nude on public beaches."
"I am not nude. Everything that is a private part is covered," she said. "You can't tell me I can't wear a thong," Panda complained.
Although the ordinance does not actually apply to the aerialist's case as she wasn't entirely nude, the city of Myrtle Beach indeed has existing laws that prohibits wearing of thongs on the beach for the past 16 years.
According to the city's municipal code, Section 14-83 passed in 1993: "It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally appear in any public place in such a state of dress or undress so as to expose to the view of others the human male or female genitals, pubic area, pubic hair, buttocks, anus, vulva or any portion of the female breast at or below the areola thereof."
Those who do not follow the regulations will initially be issued a warning to cover up before the police issue a ticket. However, in 2009 the City Council amended the ordinance and withdrew the warnings.
In a video of the incident, the police officers can be seen also taking issue with Ms. Panda's friend who was wearing a sheer white top with her nipples showing through.
The argument ensued and as a third police officer arrived, the women explained the situation which ended with the cops removing their handcuffs. However, the women continued to argue over their detainment.
The officers explained that she was cuffed and detained because of how she was acting, claiming that Ms. Panda tried to walk away from them. They were released without charges
In a Facebook post shared by Ms. Panda of the incident she says, "A woman called the cops on me because of my bikini. That's how this all started. Some Karen decided that my body was offensive to her and showed her child that her body could one day lead to her arrest."
Meanwhile, Mayor John Rhodes had this to say about the ordinance
"There's been a law the last 16 years against thongs - period," he explains. "Is it a good thing? A bad thing? Well, it's the law."
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