As you all are probably aware by now, Hootie & The Blowfish frontman and country music star, Darius Rucker, was shockingly arrested back in early February of this year in Williamson County, Tennessee.
The 58 year-old rock/country artist was charged with two counts of simple possession/casual exchange of a controlled substance and one count of violating Tennessee’s vehicle registration law – all misdemeanors.
And now, four months later, Darius has finally spoken out about the arrest and the events that led up to prior. In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the “Come Back Song” singer reveals that he was actually pulled over by the police around the same time a year prior in 2023 but was released without charges:
“It was so awesome. I mean, I looked back at that and I was like, ‘I got stopped by a police officer and I had a little bit of pot, and I think a little bit of some mushrooms or something in the car, and he let me go.’ And a year later I got a phone call from a buddy that said, ‘I think I just saw an arrest warrant for you.’ It shocked me.”
Rucker turned himself in after finding out about the warrant for his arrest that was issued in December of 2023 and was released on a $10,500 bond. He admits he believes somebody in the police department wanted to make an example out of him by issuing it after all that time:
“My friends who were in the police department were like, ‘Have you pissed somebody off up here? Because this is crazy that they’re doing this a year later. I think somebody wanted to make an example out of me, and they did. And I’m handling it with my lawyers, and paying the price, and we’ll move on with our lives.”
“It sucks. Fifty-seven years, never seen inside of a police car or jail, and I get busted for that.”
Although recreational marijuana is legal in 24 states, Tennessee is not one of them. The two drug charges are Class A misdemeanors, with a maximum penalty of up to almost a year in jail, but I HIGHLY doubt ol’ Hootie will be spending any time behind bars.