Cross-dressing suspect arrested in Dade City on Hernando County warrant

DADE CITY — A 44-year-old man dressed in a black tank top and blue denim skirt was arrested Sunday morning after he tried to run from an officer, says a report from the Dade City Police Department.

According to the report, a patrol car making a U-turn about 4 a.m. near 12340 U.S. 301 spotted what appeared to be a woman standing behind an abandoned business. The officer shined his spotlight toward the back of the business, and the person took off running into some woods.

The officer and a police dog soon found a man changing out of the tank top and skirt into a blue button-down shirt and tan shorts, the report said.

The man, Walter Hank Ryan, said he had been staying at a motel but had run out of money and was planning to sleep in the woods, according to the report. He told the officer that he wasn't a prostitute, and that dressing in woman's clothing is something he does in his spare time.

Ryan told the officer he ran because he didn't want to get arrested in woman's clothing.

Ryan, wanted on a Hernando County warrant for violating his probation on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license, was arrested by Dade City police on a charge of resisting arrest without violence.

His criminal record includes convictions for resisting an officer and fraud, records show.

As for the women's clothing and tan-colored purse he wore early Sunday, Ryan asked police to have those items destroyed.