Lafayette Police Issue Request After Videos of Naked Woman on Evangeline Thruway Go Viral

Lafayette, LA (KPEL News) - Videos of a woman who stripped naked in the middle of traffic at a busy Lafayette, Louisiana, intersection has gone viral. Lafayette Police have issued a request to the public in the wake of the incident that happened at the intersection of Evangeline Thruway and Johnston Street/Louisiana Avenue.

Social media chatter referenced the disturbing videos which were shared on several platforms. More than one shows a woman on all fours in the a lane of traffic who then stands up and removes all of her clothing. Once she is naked, she approaches vehicles waiting at the traffic light.

After walking around she makes her way to the grassy area and, clearly unwell, starts shouting. One video ends with her laying prone on the ground, making obscene gestures.

Lafayette Police responded to calls about the incident, and the department issued the following statement:

The were very disturbing and clearly depicts someone going through a crisis.  This incident occurred on Friday, December 8^th in the 500 block of SW Evangeline TW.  Our officers responded to this incident and immediately recognized that this woman needed help.  Officers called for an ambulance and the woman was transported to a local hospital to receive care.  In the future, we ask that when citizens see something like this going on, they should immediately contact law enforcement to prevent this person from getting hurt and to get them the proper care that they need.  Videoing these people in crisis is not the proper assistance that these individuals need.  For this reason right here, our agency is working on trying to get a program up and running so that we can properly handle calls dealing with mental health, because arrests are not the answer when handling these types of situations.

In this day and age, the reflexive response when we see anything inconceivable is to take out our cell phones and start videoing. We all have a choice of what we do with that information.

We are choosing not to post the videos we've received out of compassion for the woman. She is someone's daughter, possibly sister or mother. We hope she receives the care she needs.