Craig Coakley, better known as the streaker at Mets game last May has pleaded guilty. The punishment? He will do 20 hours of community service and pay a $3,000 fine. He is also banned from Citi Field, the scene of his crime for a year. Keep reading for more detail, including video of the infamous event which may have sounded like something out of a movie, but, as fans and countless YouTube viral videos attest, did happen.
It was on May 12, 2009 during the New York Mets - Atlanta Braves game that Craig Coakley, a 29-year-old plumber from Queens, NY did what streakers do. Particularly those who interrupted a major league baseball game; he raced across the field, with nothing but a strategically placed stuffed monkey. He wound up sliding into second base before being caught by security. As video below shows, he did not get very far in his streaking quest; he was caught and summarily escorted off the field and arrested.
His motivation? As NBC New York quotes him as saying at the time of his arrest last May:
“[I] didn’t think I was gonna get in so much trouble. It was a bet. My boss said he would pay me a week’s worth of salary if I did it and my lawyer told me it’s only a misdemeanor.”
Now months later after YouTube infamy as Citi Field’s first streaker, having pleaded guilty to the a misdemeanor charge interrupting a professional sporting event, As mentioned, a judge banned him from Citi Field for a year. Additionally, he was fined $3,000; of which $2,000 is payable to the Mets as a civil penalty. Not last, he was sentenced to 20 hours of community service. Regarding the latter, the streaker at Mets’ game has his own idea:
“I would love to do my service there [at Citi Field],” Coakley said. “I have no problem scraping gum off the floor.”
It will not happen of course, as the Mets have banned him via a trespass notice indefinitely not just from Citi Field, but from all of the venues where they play.
That is the latest buzz on Craig Coakley, the streaker at Mets game; the first at the new Citi Field.
