It isn’t every day that a gym visit ends with ceiling tiles on the floor, law enforcement body cams rolling, and a man—sans clothes—caught hiding in a tanning bed. But apparently, at a Planet Fitness in San Carlos Park, Florida, the elliptical and rowing machines just weren’t offering enough excitement last Saturday. According to WINK News, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a scene that reads like a fever dream: a naked man darting through a gym, attempting arson, and ultimately using a tanning bed as a hiding place.
Ceiling Acrobatics and Hydro Massage Pauses
Deputies tell WINK the incident kicked off as Planet Fitness staff were closing for the night and asked Henrry Antunez-Avarado to leave. Instead of heading out, officials say he responded with what can politely be described as spirited noncompliance. Security footage, described in the report, captures Antunez-Avarado shedding his clothes and sprinting through various rooms of the gym. Along the way, he made a stop at a hydro massage bed—still naked, naturally. There’s a certain logic to staking claim to one last spa amenity when you know your session is about to be cut spectacularly short.
As documented by the outlet, Antunez-Avarado then scaled into the ceiling, causing tiles to rain down throughout the facility. If anyone in San Carlos Park was hoping for a little after-hours interior redesign, this was likely not what they had in mind. To add a final flourish, authorities told WINK he attempted to ignite a fire in the bathroom, pushing the evening from merely chaotic to genuinely dangerous.
Arson, Tanning Beds, and a Rap Sheet
After a cascade of misadventures, the man’s hiding spot of choice wouldn’t have been out of place in a slapstick caper: he was eventually located by deputies inside a tanning bed, still very much unclothed. Court records cited in WINK indicate Antunez-Avarado was charged with indecent exposure, arson, criminal mischief, and providing false identification to law enforcement. The outlet also notes this is not his first run-in with the law; a 2023 conviction included attempted burglary, trespassing, loitering, and prowling.
In a detail highlighted by WINK, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage of the arrest on their Facebook page. One wonders if even the deputies expected the night to end with wrestling a naked man out of a tanning bed.
A Gym Membership’s Perks (and Pitfalls)
Most gym-goers might anticipate the occasional awkward encounter or suspiciously missing dumbbell, but as this incident illustrates, the spectrum of “unexpected” at your local fitness center is perhaps wider than assumed. The sheer stamina and creativity involved—naked sprints, ceiling traversal, impromptu hydro-massage pit stops, and a finale in the tanning booth—raise questions about whether Florida heat (WINK references a heat advisory with “heat stroke is an emergency” warnings) amplifies not just tempers, but local lore as well.
Is this string of events an example of “Judgement Free Zone” philosophy being put to the ultimate test, or does it simply underscore, once again, Florida’s knack for producing stories that prompt equal parts wonder and weary resignation? However one reads it, there’s an undeniable lesson: show up to the gym often enough, and you’re likely to see everything—occasionally a little more than you bargained for.
