Cops detain beachgoer over her bikini: 'Completely ludicrous'
It was just a regular day at the beach — sun, surf and a woman getting into trouble with police for wearing a bikini … to the beach.
Sam Panda was visiting Myrtle Beach over the weekend when a woman reportedly called the cops on Panda over her bikini.
According to Panda, who posted a video of her being detained by police in the allegedly “offensive” bathing suit on Facebook, the woman who she suspects complained about her was also with a child.
In the video, Panda and two friends, one of whom is filming, ask the police what the exact penal code Panda’s bikini is in a violation of. The video was taken as Panda was being handcuffed on the beach, so it’s unclear what happened in the prior conversation between Panda and the police that led to her being handcuffed.
The cops tell the three friends that they have to come to their car in order for them to explain how Panda’s bikini is “illegal.”
“[It] shall be unlawful for anybody to be in the nude on any public beach, beach access, public waters or any public property in view of the public,” one officer reads from a booklet.
“I’m not nude,” Panda replies in the video.
“You’re in a thong,” the other officer explains.
“You put me in handcuffs for being in a thong?” Panda says.
When Panda and one of her friends asked if they could just go home instead of standing around the cars with Panda in handcuffs, an officer said no because they had already called for backup.
The Myrtle Beach Police Department told TMZ that they were simply responding to a complaint of two women “who were wearing thong bikinis and a see-through top that were dancing and soliciting videos on the beach.”
Eventually, Panda and her friends were released without charges. Panda’s 20-minute Facebook video of the ordeal has over 375,000 views.
“That’s completely ludicrous,” one person commented. “Sorry you have to deal with this.”
“Glad to know we’re still policing women’s bodies in 2020,” another wrote.
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