Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin pepper sprayed and arrested in police stand-off

Posted On August 5, 2024August 5, 2024

Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin has had another brush with the law. Reportedly, he was pepper sprayed and arrested following a stand-off with police in California.

This is just the latest in a string of scrapes with law enforcement that the controversial ‘Blurry’ singer has had. In 2017, he was arrested for trying to board a plane with a BB Gun at LAX when while on his way to Keller, Texas, where his band were scheduled to play.

In February 2023, the Puddle of Mudd frontman was arrested for misdemeanour trespassing when he turned up at his former home in Hollywood, which he lost in 2015 due to foreclosure. According to the current homeowner, he refused to leave when asked and threatened her maid, prompting them to call the police. He was initially held on a $1,000 bond but was ultimately released on personal recognizance.

According to TMZ, Scantlin was arrested in Burbank, California, on Wednesday, July 31st, after his black Hummer H2 was pulled over for a traffic violation and the rocker was asked for his ID. Officers have told the publication that they discovered the post-grunge star had an active warrant from a previous case involving a weapon at an airport, which heavily suggests it was the 2017 debacle.

When officers told Scantlin to get out of the car, he allegedly refused. After several attempts to get him to comply, a crisis negotiator was called in, but even then, reports claim he wouldn’t move. Sources tell TMZ that law enforcement then used pepper spray, but even that wasn’t enough to get Scantlin to exit the vehicle. In a long ordeal, around 4:00am, a SWAT team were brought in as the final straw, and they broke the car window and shot non-lethal pepper balls to get Scantlin to finally yield and exit his vehicle. 

It is reported that Scantlin was taken to hospital to get his eyes flushed from the pepper balls and that he was fine following the treatment. He was then escorted to the local jail for the outstanding warrant and the latest charge of resisting arrest. According to the publication, he was cited and released with a court date set for August 20th. 

In other news, last year, Foo Fighters surprised fans with a cover of Puddle of Mudd’s 2001 hit ‘Blurry’ at Sonic Temple Festival. This followed Scantlin’s viral 2020 cover of Nirvana’s ‘About a Girl’, which made Scantlin a comedy figure once more. It is widely deemed one of the worst covers of all time.

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