Velvet Revolver’s Weiland Nailed for DUI Again

Controversy and Scott Weiland never seem to be too far away. The controversial lead vocalist for Velvet Revolver, who earlier sang with the Stone Temple Pilots, was arrested on a DUI charge on November 21 this year. TMZ.com exposed the news of the troubled rocker’s latest brush with the law.

The 40-year old Weiland is scheduled to make a court appearance in connection with the arrest on December 13. Things have not been too bright lately for Weiland. First, on November 16, Velvet Revolver announced they were skipping the Japanese leg of their concert tour because they had been refused visas for the four concert dates, between November 26 and 30.

On its website, Velvet Revolver posted that the Japan section of its tour was off as that country had very strict immigration laws and officials who had problems with the backgrounds of some of the band members. One day before Thanksgiving, Weiland banged into a 2005 Chrysler Sebring with his 2006 Mercedes CLS.

A California Highway patrol report said the accident happened at 6:18 p.m. on November 21, on an offramp of the 170 Freeway. CHP Officer Leon Hines said there were no injuries to either party during the crash, but said Weiland showed ‘signs of impairment’. He said Weiland could not clear satisfactorily the field sobriety tests, and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The arrest report said Weiland was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of an unspecified drug. The arrest came about almost 90 minutes after the accident. He was sent to the Van Nuys jail for booking. At the jail, he refused to provide a sample of his urine or blood for further testing.

Online records of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department showed Weiland got bail on Thanksgiving Day. The bail amount had earlier been set at $40,000. So far, there has been no comment from any of the Velvet Revolver members or associates regarding Weiland’s arrest.

The only news about Weiland came from his publicist, who said Weiland was not under the influence of any drugs, and the accident was a small one. Kristine Ashton-Magnuson, the publicist for Weiland, said, “Scott was not driving under the influence of a drug, legal or illegal. He voluntarily took a breathalyzer test which the defense believes registers well within the legal limit.”

She further said Weiland was in fact anxious to get to court and clear the matter. However, there is no information about whether he was actually high on either alcohol or drugs or both at the time of the accident.

Prior to this incident, Velvet Revolver had issued a statement to the effect that it was going to appeal against the decision of the Japanese government to deny the band visas for the concert. The band is undertaking the tour to promote its new album, Libertad, and kicked off things in August from Baltimore.
The band has had problems with the overseas segment of the tour, however. As if the denial of visas by the Japanese was not enough, the band had to postpone the Australian leg of the tour till the beginning of 2008. It has still not offered any explanations regarding the cancellation.

Also, the November 21 incident is not Weiland’s first brush with the law. He has a DUI charge from 2003, when he was arrested on his 36th birthday for driving under the influence. The story never seems to end for Scott Weiland.