Hannah Montana Alum Mitchel Musso is speaking out following his arrest this weekend on theft and public intoxication charges.
The 32-year-old actor, who played Oliver Oken on the Disney Channel show, firmly denied both allegations during an interview with PEOPLE on Wednesday.
“There was no theft, nor was I intoxicated,” he insisted. “It was just an accident, but it’s a big misunderstanding.”
Musso was arrested Saturday night in Rockwall, Texas on charges of public intoxication and theft, according to a press release from the Rockwall Police Department.
Police responded to a 911 call made around 7:15 p.m. from a person reporting a “disturbance” at the SpringHill Suites Dallas Rockwall, where the caller said another person entered the hotel and began eating a bag of chips. When the person was asked if he would pay them, he became “verbally abusive” and left without paying.
‘Hannah Montana’ Actor Mitchell Musso Arrested For Public Intoxication, Theft
Musso, however, remembers the event differently. After spending four hours surfing the waves at Lake Ray Hubbard near Dallas, the actor says he checked into the hotel in just shorts and no shirt.
“This disgruntled employee, whose behavior was unpredictable, ripped the bag of chips out of my hand and started yelling at me about my clothes,” claimed Musso, who offered to pay for the chips. “He said, ‘Get out or I’ll call the police.’ Finally I said, ‘Sure. Call the police.'”
“You know, I grew up here. You know this is my hometown, right?” he adds.
Mitchel Musso at the Bachelor Lions Premiere on January 9, 2018 in Hollywood, California.
Michael Bezjian/Getty
When the police arrived, Musso was in shock.
“It’s scary when 30 police officers surround you,” he explains. “To be in a terrifying position. They brought me in. I had absolutely nothing to say to any of them, because I knew what was going on. They called me by my name. They knew exactly who I was, because it’s my hometown. People know me.”
The Phineas and Ferb vote The actor says he ended up being charged with theft and DUI, in part because he had two outstanding warrants from 2019 for unpaid traffic tickets. The outstanding warrants were for failure to display a driver’s license and expired registration, according to Fox News, which reported that the actor violated a “promise to appear” order.
Musso believes it may also have had something to do with his status as a public figure because “all eyes are on you.” (The actor is currently recording an album and is set to appear in an unreleased film set to shoot in New Zealand in the coming months.) Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best of what’s happening From juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories, PEOPLE has to offer. After the arrest, Hannah Montana The alum spent the night in jail and was released after posting $1,000 bail. A stint behind bars wasn’t his “favorite environment,” he admits, but if there’s anything wrong with his brush with the law, it’s that Musso finally got his hands on his snack of choice.
“Guess what they feed you for free in prison? Crispy potato chips,” he says. “I got my free chips.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education