One of the women arrested and jailed for "flashing" during Fantasy Fest has no breasts.
"I had a double mastectomy in May 1999," said Key Wester Kathleen Eddins, 50. "I have no breast tissue or nipples, although I do have saline implants under my chest muscles for cosmetic purposes."
Eddins, who refuses to plea bargain, will go on trial Jan. 22.
City Commissioner Tom Oosterhoudt and others have criticized the Police Dept. for "overkill" after dozens of women were reportedly arrested and jailed during Fantasy Fest here in October for playfully showing their breasts for beads or displaying painted breasts.
Before the festival, a Police Dept. press release indicated that officers would, in most cases, "warn" violators before making arrests. Most of those arrested, however, said they were never warned.
"Fantasy Fest is billed as an adult festival," said a Sarasota woman jailed for flashing her breasts for beads. "I would have never done that had I been warned that I could actually go to jail for such an `offense.'"
"I had seen Sgt. John Hardy come onto private property at Rick's Bar and arrest a young woman who had just had her breasts bodypainted," Eddins said. "But I couldn't imagine that they would arrest a woman with no breasts.
"I had my surgical scars covered with painted peacock feathers. And Hardy arrested me. He didn't warn me. He didn't tell me to cover up. He just arrested me, handcuffed my hands behind my back, put me in the back seat of his patrol car and took me to jail.
"But on the way, we stopped off at the Police Station. He went in and brought out several other officers to look at me. I was still uncovered from the waist up," Eddins said.
"On the way to the Police Station, an unidentified woman in civilian clothes rode in the front seat with Hardy. At the station, she got into her own car and literally raced Hardy as we sped out Roosevelt Boulevard to the jail. That was a wild ride. Still handcuffed, I could hardly keep my balance in the back seat.
"It was freezing at the jail," Eddins said. "Finally, Hardy covered me with the top of a jail uniform. I was still handcuffed. I was there for six hours before my friends were allowed to bail me out."