RIP Henry Earl

Henry Earl, famed for being the Most Arrested Man in America, has passed.

A Lexington man who was famous for being arrested more than 1,000 times died over the weekend, according to WLEX-18. Henry Earl, who was 74 at the time of his death, was buried at Owenton Cemetery Thursday afternoon in front of workers from the Owenton Healthcare and Rehabilitation Facility, according to WLEX. No family related to Earl could be found for the ceremony. Earl, nicknamed “James Brown,” gained internet fame for his long list of arrests and misdemeanor charges, mostly related to public alcohol intoxication. Earl had been arrested approximately 1,300 times since the Division of Community Corrections of Lexington Fayette Urban County Government began computerized booking in 1992. Earl began drinking at 18 years old when his adoptive mother died. Earl told the Herald-Leader his last job was at the Smith Motel as a busboy and dishwasher in 1969. He lost that job after showing up to work drunk. He was homeless not long after. His criminal history dates back to the 1970s but he didn’t start gaining internet fame until humor website Fark.com began posting his mug shots and tracking his arrests. In 2004 he appeared on the ABC late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live and was interviewed by Newsweek for an online article after word of his many arrests spread across the internet.

It will surprise no one to learn that actual encounters with Henry could be less entertaining and enjoyable than the internet suggests. I met him a few times and while he could often be quite affable and friendly, he could also turn abusive very quickly, especially towards women. But he has long been part of the color of Lexington life, and he will in many ways be missed. I would say that the system failed him and that surely is true to a point, but Henry was such an extreme case that I’m not sure that he could have fit comfortably in any system that we could have conceived.