Cops: Emperor's Helper Found With No Clothes

JULY 18--The Emperor’s helper had no clothes, Florida police say.

Following recent reports about a male intruder sleeping inside a Vero Beach apartment complex stairwell, an officer on foot patrol yesterday found the suspect standing inside a common room at around 3 AM.

Gregory Gornell, 44, was “fully nude,” according to an arrest report, and told police that he “was staying at the facility because he was the emperor’s helper.”

Seen at right, Gornell reportedly told the officer that the building--an independent living community for residents over the age of 62--was “under new management and that the emperor told him that he could stay there.”

Gornell, who had previously been trespassed from the building, was asked “how to get in contact with the emperor.” The suspect advised that such royal outreach could be done “through the electric lines.”

Charged with trespass, Gornell today pleaded no contest and was adjudicated guilty of the misdemeanor (for which he will spend the next week locked up).

Gornell, whose occupation is listed as “construction worker” in jail records, has previous convictions for cocaine possession, theft, marijuana possession, trespass, and possession of drug paraphernalia. (1 page)