Puddle Of Mudd Frontman Pepper Sprayed And Arrested

Last week (31 July), Puddle Of Mudd singer Wes Scantlin was reportedly arrested and pepper sprayed following a stand-off with police in California.

TMZ reports that Scantlin was stopped at a traffic stop last Wednesday, where he was arrested for a traffic violation, and police discovered that he had an active warrant for a previous case regarding possession of a weapon at an airport.

The TMZ report states that the She Hates Me singer didn’t immediately cooperate with police and get out of the car when he was stopped, and a crisis negotiator and spray didn’t get him out of the car either. At 4 am, a SWAT team was called to break the singer’s car window and shoot non-lethal pepper balls at him.  

After facing the SWAT team and pepper balls, Scantlin reportedly exited the vehicle, surrendered, and went to the hospital to have his eyes flushed out from the pepper balls. The singer didn’t face any other injuries.

Since his arrest, Scantlin has been booked for his previous warrant and received the additional charge of resisting arrest. He’s currently out on bail and will face court on Tuesday, 20 August. Representatives for Scantlin didn’t immediately respond to NME’s request for comment.

Billboard reports that, in 2017, Scantlin was arrested for allegedly trying to bring a BB gun on a flight from LAX Airport.

In 2016, Scantlin was restrained and escorted from Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach, where the band had just finished a headline show. The reason reportedly was that the singer skipped a court hearing for the second time after he was charged with vandalising his old house.

In December 2022, Scantlin made headlines after referencing his cover of About A Girl by Nirvana, which he admitted “looked and sounded like total shit”.

In the same interview with Song Facts, he revealed that the latest Puddle Of Mudd album was almost complete. The band released the album Ubiquitous in September 2023.