Mass keeps going as stripper exposes herself in cathedral

Unusual things happen in Las Vegas every day, but when was the last time a stripper clad only in a T-shirt busted through the doors of a cathedral interrupting Mass?

For parishioners who worship at Guardian Angel, the last time was Sunday.

The woman walked into the cathedral just off the south Strip during the 11 o'clock service. Holding a cup in her hand, she bent down at the altar and exposed her buttocks in view of the congregation, said Mathew Chmielewski, who sat in the front pew.

"The Mass kept going. No one knew what to do," said Chmielewski.

The woman is licensed to work at Scores, Sapphire, Spearmint Rhino, Crazy Horse Too and Treasures.

Police arrested her outside the church at 320 Cathedral Way on a charge of possession of cocaine. She claimed a purse containing a "large amount" of the drug as her own, said Officer Martin Wright, spokesman for Las Vegas police.

A little over an hour earlier, she had gone into the Peppermill Inn with a male companion. After noticing she was acting strangely, restaurant management refused to serve her.

She went to the restaurant's back parking lot and stripped, leaving her crumpled blue jeans and a T-shirt in a pile on the ground, Orth said.

She came back alone inside the restaurant, packed for Sunday morning breakfast, and sat down at the bar au natural.

Management escorted her outside the building, but before police could arrive, a man driving a black convertible picked her up. A purse she had left behind contained identification, Wright said.

Meanwhile, she traveled a mile and a half to the to Blair House Suites on Desert Inn Road where she was knocking on doors asking for water.

After being escorted off the property, she somehow made her way to the church, passing several hotels en route.

It was unknown where she got the T-shirt she donned before entering the church.

According to the police report, the woman was talking to a minister outside the cathedral when authorities arrived.

It might have been unusual to churchgoers, but police often have to deal with bizarre behavior.

"It's sad to say that this type of incident does occur frequently. To me there's no humor in it. This person just got turned around and her life is heading the wrong way," Wright said.

The woman was released from Clark County Detention Center Monday.

"The incident was not intentional," she wrote to the Review-Journal Friday. "I am bipolar and I was off my medication causing me to hallucinate and go into psychosis. This was not a crazy party weekend in Vegas. I was sick and didn't know what I was doing."