2 years after drunkenly stealing the Homer the Dragon costume, where is Joe Gillespie now?
Joe Gillespie first made headlines in September 2015 when he passed out in BB&T Ballpark after a beer festival. He woke up in a stairwell and happened upon the dressing room for Homer the Dragon, the Charlotte Knight’s mascot.
The then-23-year-old proceeded to spend five hours running around Uptown in the costume, posing for pictures and accepting free drinks, as Creative Loafing reported.
[Related: Who is Charlotte’s oldest mascot in professional sports?]
He landed in jail briefly and was handed a November court date. I met up with him before that court date to see him get his mugshot mullet tamed (and his tips frosted) before a Creative Loafing event.
A little over two years later, I wondered: Where is he now?
When I called him, he couldn’t answer the phone. He texted me instead: “Sorry, in a crawl space trying to finish this job.”
He’s not in hiding. He’s just keeping busy, still living and working in Indian Trail, employed by a plumbing company.
He emailed me later: “I still love my job. Just to wake up and live the American dream with a good hard day of work, and we always have a good time on the job. That’s what life’s all about right — get the job done and have fun!”
He’s 25 now, but, he asserted, not even close to his prime. He’s dating, he’s hanging out at his usual haunt, Moochies Tavern.
And he is not afraid to have fun. He said he would steal the Homer costume and romp around town all over again. No regrets. Except for cutting his mullet for court.
His night of fun did cost him that first time, though. His record shows that the larceny after break/enter and breaking and/or entering charges were dismissed in June 2016. He pled guilty to misdemeanor larceny and was given probation and community service in June 2016.
He felt relief when the charges were dropped, and he has finished probation and community service. Gillespie said he completed his community service at the water treatment center in Monroe, NC, and “it was an array of activities” from picking up pine cones to cutting grass.
“I still love my home team and all of my/our fans so I still go to the games and support our city,” he said. “I wasn’t told I wasn’t able to go back, so we’ve been to a few games since.”
He said he’s even donated to the Knights’ charities.
He remembers the night he stole the costume quite clearly.
He cleverly added in an email: “Everything from that ‘Knight’ is fresh in my mind. I even got in contact with a man I met during his bachelor party while wearing the suit and got to see the pictures.”
What’s next?
He said his big plans for 2018 are a “classic Myrtle beach trip” and a trip to Oakland to celebrate the return of Jon Gruden to the Raiders as head coach.
Gillespie is still working on his mullet. He said, “Mullet 2.0 is in full effect. Sequels normally don’t get better, but this will lead to a full blown mullet-fan-da-mania.”
I like the confidence.
Photos: Joe Gillespie, CharlotteFive files
This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 10:00 PM with the headline "2 years after drunkenly stealing the Homer the Dragon costume, where is Joe Gillespie now?."