Wes Scantlin was arrested early on Sunday morning after the Puddle of Mud frontman led police on a 100-mile-per-hour car chase on a rural highway in Southern Minnesota while he was drunk.
Scantlin, 43, had just performed at the halfway Jam in Royalton, about 100 miles from where the police pulled him over, when a sheriff’s sergeant spotted him speeding 30 mph
above the speed limit, according to the Star Tribune. As the officer tried to catch up with him, Scantlin reached 80 mph before ultimately hitting 100 as he sped west on Highway 212 towards Hector in Renville County.
When Scantlin finally pulled over for the officer, he “was observed to slur his words as he spoke,” reeked of alcohol, and had bloodshot, watery eyes, according to the Star Tribune. After Scantlin blew a 0.310 on an initial breathalyzer test, reaching four times past the legal blood alcohol level, he was charged with two counts of DWI, as well as the felony of
fleeing a police officer, according to Fox News.
Scantlin reportedly refused to submit to any further alcohol consumption tests after speaking with an attorney, and he was released after posting bail, according to the Star Tribune.
This incident is by no means the first run-in that Scantlin has experienced with the law. In 2012, he was arrested for drug possession, and in 2013, he was arrested on domestic violence charges against his ex-wife, Jessica Nicole Smith, according to Fox News. The Puddle of Mud frontman has also gotten into trouble for performing while extremely intoxicated and engaging in violent altercations with his audience.
“He needs help before he hurts himself or someone else,” said Linda Smith, Scantlin’s former mother-in-law, according to the Star Tribune. “It’s a shame.”
Scantlin is the only remaining original member of the Puddle of Mud, which was founded in 1991, and it remains to be seen how his latest arrest will affect the band’s scheduled
concerts through October, according to the Daily Mail.
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