Puddle of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin was reportedly arrested after a dramatic run-in with law enforcement officials in Burbank California, Wednesday.
Representatives from the Burbank Police Department said they pulled over Scantlin’s black Hummer H2 after observing a traffic violation and proceeded to ask him for his identification. They then realized the famous rockstar had an active warrant from a previous case, according to TMZ. The situation began to escalate when police asked Scantlin to exit his vehicle, but he refused. The SWAT team was called in and after a series of troubling exchanges, pepper spray and pepper balls were used.
Wes Scantlin (R) of Puddle of Mudd performs at Shoreline Amphitheatre on July 17, 2001 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
Police realized Scantlin was wanted for allegedly having a weapon at an airport, according to TMZ. The officers that were on-scene repeatedly asked Scantlin to exit his vehicle, but after a number of attempts, he remained inside his Hummer, refusing to step out. Police phoned for additional support and a crisis negotiator was dispatched to the scene.
The crisis negotiator attempted to communicate with Scantlin in an effort to convince him to execute on the officer’s requests, but the famous singer remained steadfast in his refusal to exit his vehicle, according to TMZ.
Sources close to the situation said pepper spray was deployed, but it still didn’t work, and he still refused to budge.
CASTLE DONINGTON, UNITED KINGDOM – JUNE 10: Wes Scantlin of Puddle Of Mudd performs on the main stage on Day 1 of Download Festival at Donington Park on June 10, 2011 in Castle Donington, England. (Photo by Christie Goodwin/Getty Images)
The standoff became increasingly intense and the decision was made to engage the SWAT team. They arrived on-scene at roughly 4:00 a.m. and broke Scantlin’s car window before shooting non-lethal pepper balls. This method proved to be successful, and the singer finally exited the car, according to TMZ.
Scantlin was transported to the hospital to have his eyes flushed from the pepper balls. He reportedly didn’t suffer any injuries as a result of the interaction with SWAT.
The famous singer was taken to jail where he was booked for the outstanding warrant, as well as the new charges of resisting arrest. (RELATED: Aerosmith Retires From Touring Due To Steven Tyler’s Health)
Scantlin was cited and released with an August 20 court date.
This story continues to develop.
