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Tags: nick offerman | jail | robber

Nick Offerman Once Mistaken for Robber, Jailed

By    |   Friday, 19 April 2024 11:33 AM EDT

Actor Nick Offerman said he once spent a night in jail while he was high because police mistook him for a robber.

The "Parks and Recreation" star recounted the story from years back, which his parents were not aware of, during a guest appearance Wednesday on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

"Some friends and I, we can say this now in California, we were smoking marijuana out behind a community theater late one night," he said. "And some flashlights came along the creek where we were hanging out, and we realized it was police. So we began to tiptoe away, and they gave chase, and we wisely ran."

Police were still able to catch up to them, Offerman said.

"It turned out that a restaurant had been robbed of a bunch of cash up the creek," he said. "And they naturally saw these kids running, and we spent the whole night in jail. And the thing is, we were just these innocent, dumb theater kids, and we were saying, 'No, we were just out there smoking and talking, officer.'"

It took some convincing, but Offerman and his friends were able to get police to believe their story — after spending the night in jail. It all ended on a funny note, however.

"As the sun was coming up, we walked out, and on the front lawn of this sheriff's station, my friend Greg, who had the one-hitter, the pot-smoking paraphernalia, we said, 'It's a bummer you had to throw that in the creek when they were chasing us,'" Offerman said. "He reached into his crotch and pulled it out and was like, 'You think I'm gonna throw this thing away?' So we smoked marijuana first thing in the morning in Urbana in front of the sheriff's station."

It wasn't the only time Offerman spent time in jail. He said he and a friend once shoplifted as a prank, and he was caught hiding eight Ronnie Milsap cassettes in his pants. He ended up in jail but was bailed out by his friend just in time to make his debut in the first play in which he was cast.

Zoe Papadakis

Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


TheWire
Actor Nick Offerman said he once spent a night in jail while he was high because police mistook him for a robber.
nick offerman, jail, robber
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2024-33-19
Friday, 19 April 2024 11:33 AM
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