By John Clarke

(Reuters) - A Maryland State Police trooper has been put on administrative suspension after sheriff's deputies responded to a call reporting a naked man drinking at a bar in a barbecue restaurant, authorities said on Wednesday.

The incident is the most recent in a spate involving naked people around the country.

Harford County sheriff's deputies arrived around 11 p.m. on Saturday at the bar in Jarrettsville, 32 miles north of Baltimore, and located two men who identified themselves as state troopers. The trooper in question appeared intoxicated and denied that he had been naked, sheriff's deputy spokeswoman Christie Kahler said.

Customers told deputies one of the troopers had pulled off his pants and at one point exposed himself, according to the report. Neither man was charged.

After an internal investigation by the Maryland State Police, one trooper was placed on administrative suspension, state police spokeswoman Elena Russo said.

Neither of the men's names were released.

The incident is under further investigation by the Maryland State Police and the Maryland District Attorney's Office.

In Arlington, Virginia, Roland Hitchens, 42, was naked and intoxicated when he struck two vehicles and wrecked his motorcycle before fleeing into the woods Friday night around 9:30 p.m., police said.

Police located Hitchens not far from the scene in the suburb of Washington, D.C., and he was taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries.

Hitchens faces several charges including felony hit and run, indecent exposure, drunken driving, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and driving with a revoked license.

Elsewhere in the United States, there appears to be an uptick in crimes committed by nude people, according to media reports.

Police arrested a screaming naked man with a 4-foot sword outside a housing complex Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida, according to several news reports.

In Northern California, an impaired man crashed his truck Sunday and promptly got out of the vehicle and disrobed, California Highway Patrol said.

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Witnesses told police Alexander Jon Leonard, 25, was running around naked in traffic, blocking the Bay Area freeway. Leonard resisted arrest and police were forced to use a Taser on him.

He was later arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and resisting arrest.

Last week, a Chicago-area man was arrested when he attempted to rob a bank naked.

(The story is corrected to show trooper was put on administrative suspension, not suspended without pay, in paragraphs 1, 5)

(Reporting by John Clarke in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Eric Walsh)