On Saturday (August 26), former Hannah Montana star Mitchel Musso was arrested by the Rockwall (TX) Police Department and charged with theft (totaling less than $100) and public intoxication – both of which are considered Class C misdemeanors. The incident occurred a little after 7:00 p.m. local time.
According to the police report, Musso appeared to be intoxicated as he walked inside a SpringHill Suites Dallas Rockwall hotel in Rockwall, Texas. He proceeded to grab a bag of chips and began munching on them before paying. When confronted by staff, he became ‘verbally abusive’ and left without paying.
‘Hannah Montana’ star Mitchel Musso was arrested this weekend in Texas over public drunkenness, stealing a bag of chips and more, TMZ reports. pic.twitter.com/8JVX5U8tyN
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 27, 2023
Musso was outside by the time police arrived and that’s when they identified him as 32-year-old Mitchel Musso – they also revealed that he had several outstanding traffic warrants out of Rockwall. He was booked at the Rockwall County Detention Center and spent a night in jail before posting a $1,000 bond.
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On Wednesday (August 30), Mitchel Musso spoke with PEOPLE and shared his side of the story – which is a little different than what the Rockwall Police Department said on Saturday. “There was no theft, and I was not intoxicated,” Musso said to the outlet. “It’s just been unfortunate, but it’s a big misunderstanding.”
According to Musso, he wasn’t intoxicated. Instead, he had just finished a four-hour wave-surfing session on Lake Ray Hubbard – located about one mile west of the hotel – before walking into the hotel wearing board shorts and no shirt. Things took a turn for the worse when a disgruntled employee confronted him.
“This disgruntled employee, whose behavior was erratic, ripped the bag of potato chips out of my hand and started yelling at me about my attire,” Musso said to PEOPLE, further adding that he offered to pay for the chips. “He said, ‘Get out or I’m going to call the police.’ Ultimately, I said, ‘Sure. Call the cops.'”
It wasn’t long before he was surrounded by 30 cops – which he described as a ‘scary position to be in.’ He claims his arrest had nothing to do with the bag of chips. In fact, he claims the police officers knew him by his first name before he even talked to them because it was his hometown and everyone knows him.
He also believes his being booked was more a result of the two outstanding warrants he had from 2019 for failing to display a driver’s license and driving with an expired registration. “Guess what they feed you in jail for free? Ruffles potato chips. I got my free potato chips,” Mitchel Musso joked in his interview.
Mitchel Musso Has a Couple New Projects in the Works
Mitchel Musso began his acting career in 2002 when he appeared in several small films and had a voice role in the unaired pilot of Avatar: The Last Airbender. He then appeared in Secondhand Lions (2003), Life Is Ruff (2005), and Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire (2005) before catching his first big break.
He rose to fame as Oliver Oken in Hannah Montana for four seasons between 2006 and 2011 – he was Hannah Montana’s best friend in the show. That role led to him having a voice role on Phineas and Ferb between 2007 and 2015, as well as a lead role in the first two seasons of Pair of Kings in 2010-2012.
Aside from his acting, he started releasing music in 2008 with his hit song ‘If I Didn’t Have You’ reaching No. 7 on Billboard’s ‘Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles’ chart. He then released ‘Hey’ and ‘Shout’ in 2009 before dropping his first album Mitchel Musso later that year. He released his Ghost album last year.
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According to PEOPLE, Mitchel Musso is ‘currently recording an album and set to appear in an undisclosed film scheduled to shoot in New Zealand in the coming months.’ He hasn’t appeared in a film since 2020, when he had a voice role in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe.