Puddle Of Mudd vocalist/guitarist Wes Scantlin has once again found himself on the wrong side of the law. The multi-platinum 52-year-old post-grunge rocker, whose battles with substance abuse played out publicly amid the early 2000s and 2010s, was infamously involved in a string of arrests and controversies surrounding his erratic behavior.
Scantlin‘s illegal activities had diminished significantly in recent years, with a 2017 arrest for allegedly attempting to board a plane with a BB gun, and a February 2023 arrest for trespassing at a home he used to own, being relatively minor in comparison to some of his past antics.
Per TMZ, this latest incident took place this past Wednesday, July 31st, in Burbank, CA and came about after Scantlin was pulled over for a traffic violation. It was discovered then, that Scantlin still had a warrant for the 2017 arrest mentioned above.
TMZ report that Scantlin refused to comply with the police in getting out of his vehicle in this new incident, leading to a standoff involving a crisis negotiator, and ultimately a SWAT team. Members of the latter tactical unit are said to have smashed out his car window around 04:00am, before flushing him out of his vehicle with the use of non-lethal pepper balls.
He is said to have then been taken to a nearby hospital to have the chemical irritant flushed from his eyes, and was then booked both on the outstanding warrant and a newly added charge of resisting arrest in relation to this new incident.
In 2019, Scantlin had seemingly begun to turn over a new leaf, citing a 3-month incarceration from a past charge as being part God’s plan for him. He told Kerrang! at the time:
“God’s always been here for me the entire time. I just got done praying for the day, and I’m pretty sure that he probably just put me there. I was trying to escape from a bunch of really whack-ass, freaky-deaky people, and I think he was just, ‘Hey, I’ll do this for you and you can get away from everybody like that for the rest of your life.’ So I’m blessed by God for having to endure that kind of incarceration, which is mind-blowing and crazy, but it’s obviously helped me get to another chapter in my life which is filled with love and positivity and joy and happiness.”
