Lexington homeless man, once famous for his 1,300-plus arrests, dies

A Lexington man who was famous for being arrested more than 1,000 times died over the weekend.

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. Ginny Ramsey, co-founder of Lexington’s Catholic Action Center, confirmed Earl’s death to the Herald-Leader.

No family related to Earl could be found for the ceremony, according to WLEX.

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.

Ramsey described Earl as unique, positive and honest. She added that he liked to dance and be called James Brown.

“He sang and danced and called himself James Brown,” Ramsey said. “He actually kind of danced like James Brown. Everybody knew him that way.”

Ramsey has known Earl since 2000 and considered him a friend. When she helped open the Catholic Action Center 25 years ago, Earl was one of the first visitors.

Ramsey also said Earl was stylish, saying if the CAC ever had clothes that were his style, they would set it aside for him.

“He loved to have a leather jacket and his cap,” Ramsey said. “He had style and that’s what he liked people to think of him.”

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.

Court and city officials previously said Earl was scheduled to be flown out first-class to tape the Jimmy Kimmel Live show in Los Angeles, but he couldn’t depart on time because he was jailed.

Earl would sometimes hang around the bars near the University of Kentucky’s campus and students would give him drinks, according to Ramsey.

His 1,000th arrest came in 2008 for alcohol intoxication. Bloggers have superimposed his face on baseball cards, magazines, album covers, historic photos and even the Mona Lisa. One Lexington liquor store even sold autographed pictures.

Earl claimed innocence in one such alcohol intoxication case in 2008. Earl’s attorney Stephen Gray McFayden said police arrested him merely “because of who he is” after he was found asleep on the back porch of a home.

The case resulted in Earl checking into the Hope Center for a four-month alcoholism recovery program. He was cut an unusual plea deal in the case: Two years probation with a 90-day sentence hanging over his head if he gets arrested again.

McFayden also hoped to get Earl Social Security disability payments and into low-income housing — and off the streets.

Earl would go on to be arrested several more times. In April 2009, Earl was arrested on a public alcohol intoxication charge, ending a five-month span of sobriety, the longest he had ever gone without drinking, Earl told the Herald-Leader from the Fayette County Detention Center.

Court records show his final public alcohol intoxication case happened in April 2017.

In 2016 Earl and a Lexington police officer, Lt. Joe Anderson, went viral after Anderson bought Earl lunch. WKYT reported Anderson spotted Earl was wearing a hospital ID bracelet and asked him if he needed anything. Earl responded saying he needed something to eat, so Anderson bought him some food.

In 2017 Earl got sick and was admitted to Owenton Healthcare and Rehabilitation Facility, Ramsey said. That’s where he has spent the last seven years, receiving care from the staff at the facility.

Ramsey and CAC staff stayed in contact with Earl and visited him occasionally. Members of the facility attended Earl’s funeral service and described him as a pleasant man who tried to make people laugh, according to WLEX.

“He was a joy to them too,” Ramsey said. “He would come down and try to dance for them, told them all he was James Brown. He was just a character.”

Ramsey said the CAC plans to add Earl to its plans of honoring homeless deaths during a Memorial Day cookout Monday.