It’s unfortunately somewhat common to read about actors, especially those who attained success as kids, running afoul of the law. We can now add former Hannah Montana co-star Mitchel Musso to that list, though his recent brush with law enforcement (which led to him spending a night in jail) has a twist. As he’s claiming innocence from the charges, which include public intoxication and theft.
On August 27, Musso had an altercation at a Springhill Suites in Rockwall, TX, his hometown. According to police, who responded to a 911 call, they were called to a disturbance regarding a man who appeared to be intoxicated, and who began eating a bag of chips and refused to pay for them. However, Musso tells People that he was never intoxicated and that the police were called under false pretenses after he had an altercation with a hotel employee. He explained…
There was no theft, and I was not intoxicated. It's just been unfortunate, but it's a big misunderstanding. 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. He said, 'Get out or I'm going to call the police.' Ultimately, I said, 'Sure. Call the cops.' You know, I grew up here. You know this is my hometown, right?
According to Musso, who was also a regular voice actor for Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb, he had spent the afternoon at a nearby beach wave surfing and entered the hotel wearing board shorts and no shirt. This upset the employee and led to the altercation which resulted in the police being called. However, if Musso was expecting the cops to resolve the situation, that’s not what happened. Musso continued…
It's scary when you're surrounded by 30 cops. It's a scary position to be in. 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 first name. They knew exactly who I was because it's my hometown. People know me.
A press release from the Rockwall Police Department states that when they arrived Musso did show signs of intoxication, they also found a pair of 2019 traffic citations in the area that the actor had apparently left unpaid. Musso was charged with a pair of misdemeanors for public intoxication and theft and spent one night in jail before posting a $1,000 bond.
Clearly, there’s a pretty big discrepancy between these two sides of the story. While it's unclear if Musso plans to fight the charges in court, it seems unlikely a pair of misdemeanors will make many waves or impact his career. It's been over 15 years since Hannah Montana was on the air. Musso is likely part of the return of Fineas and Ferb to Disney+, and the actor reportedly has other film projects as well as a new album planned for the future.
