July 18, 1997

COPS HALT TOPLESS DRIVE


  REGINA (CP) -- Stares, complaints and applause followed a Regina woman yesterday as she rode topless in an open Jeep down this quiet Prairie city's main drag.
  Dolores Uhren, 44, said she was simply tired of having to wear confining clothes, especially during the current heat wave in southern Saskatchewan.
  So on a dare from her boyfriend Bill, who wouldn't give his last name, she doffed her top and he donned her bra before taking a spin.
  Police pulled the pair over after they drove up and down Albert St. in their red Jeep during heavy traffic for a half hour.
  "I go topless all the time on our (rural property) and every time I come back into the city, I always have to put a top back on," explained Uhren, who pulled on a cropped sweater before emerging from the police cruiser.
  "Bill had suggested at one point (I should) stay topless. And I said only if he would wear a bra so men out there would know what it really feels like on a hot day like today to be all harnessed up and tied up."
  A lacy bra, unclasped in the back, dangled from Bill's shoulders as he climbed out of the cruiser.
  "It felt really, really cool, as in my body temperature," added Uhren. The temperature in Regina yesterday was 28C.
  Police took statements, but did not arrest the pair. The matter has been referred to the Justice Department to decide if a charge of public nudity will be laid against Uhren. Uhren insisted women should be free to choose for themselves whether to go topless.
  "Each woman for themselves," said Uhren, whose appearance drew blasts from car horns, shouts and at least one woman's complaint to police.
  "If they feel they would like to do this, hopefully the government would let women be like men or else make men start wearing bras or halter tops."
  No thanks, said her bra-chafed boyfriend. "It's terrible, I'm like a horse all harnessed up, perspiring."


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