Scott Weiland Actually Not In Jail, And Now It Gets Weird

22 August 2014 | 3:44 pm | Staff Writer

Just because the police say he is "definitely in custody", that doesn't make it so

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In the infamous words of Ron Burgundy: well, that escalated quickly. From reports of imprisonment this morning to now being an apparent case of mistaken identity, the case of former Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland just took a turn for the bizarre.

After the internet wildfire that blazed after TMZ reported this morning that Weiland had been jailed over charges of burglary and meth possession, the singer posted a video to his Facebook page showing that he is very much not behind bars, but has rather been "locked up" in a recording studio creating work for his post-STP project, Scott Weiland And The Wildabouts, an act that prompted TMZ to dig further to cover their suddenly exposed butts.

 

What the tabloid has found as a result of the development, however, seems so incredible (in the most literal sense of the word), nigh unlikely, that one has to question how stories like this even happen; it's the eternal Bohemian Rhapsody rhetoric: is this real life, or just fantasy?

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TMZ, seemingly spurred into action by Weiland's threats of legal action in the video, re-established contact with the LA County Sheriff's Department officers who claimed to have Weiland behind bars, asserting at the time that a representative for the department had said, "He is definitely in custody. We did a physical check on that inmate and he is currently in custody."

As further justification for their assertions, TMZ also pointed to a written statement from the Beverly Hills Police Department, which reads (under a title of "Celebrity Arrest"), "The suspect, former Stone Temple Pilots band member Scott Weiland (46 years of age), was taken into custody for burglary and possession of a controlled substance."

However, a little less than two hours later, TMZ came back with another statement from LA County Sheriffs stating that the man in custody is indeed not the former Stone Temple Pilot, but rather a Scott Weiland impersonator, because that is apparently a thing that exists.

"This story is unbelievable -- Sheriffs tell us they believe a Scott Weiland impersonator is currently behind bars ... and claim he looks identical to the singer ... including his trademark red hair," TMZ wrote in their trademark ... frustrating ... style. 

"We're told once TMZ called cops after the real Scott posted online video calling BS on his arrest -- they went and confronted the unknown man and established he was a knockoff."

As far as the other details of the charges and length of imprisonment, well, that all appears to be above-board — but, resoundingly, it would seem that Weiland's name has been cleared of being behind this particular infraction.