Darius Rucker believes police 'wanted to make an example' out of him
Hootie + the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker is convinced police "wanted to make an example" out of him when they arrested him on drug charges earlier this year.
Darius Rucker is convinced police "wanted to make an example" out of him when he was arrested on drug charges earlier this year.
The 58-year-old Hootie + the Blowfish frontman was taken into custody by the Williamson County Sherriff's Office in Texas and booked on three misdemeanour charges - two counts of simple possession/casual exchange of a controlled substance and one count of a violation of vehicle registration law - in February and he was later released on $10,500 bond.
Now the singer has spoken out about the February 2023 incident which led to the arrest and revealed he was initially let go without charge before the case was escalated a year later. He told PEOPLE: "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."
He added: "My friends who were in the police department were like, ‘Have you p***** somebody off up here? Because this is crazy that they’re doing this a year later'.
"But 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."
He added: "It sucks. Fifty-seven years, never seen inside of a police car or jail, and I get busted for that."
The charges against Darius are still pending, but he recently told the 'TODAY' show that his attorneys are taking care of it. He said: "I went down and we handled it. My lawyers are taking care of it. It is what it is."
He added that he only had drugs in his car because he was helping friends move house. He explained: "It was funny because I was going to a friend’s house, they were moving and asked me to take some stuff. And I did and got pulled, got stopped. And the crazy thing was, they let me go."
In December, Darius was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he declared being a father to his three children, Caroline, 28, Danielle, 22, and Jack, 18, was the most important thing in his life.
He said in his speech: "Carrie, Dani and Jack are my heart, they're my soul. They're everything to me and everything I do is for them." The 'Wagon Wheel' hitmaker then turned to his kids and added: "It's just been an amazing thing to be your father. As great as all this stuff is, it's not as cool as being your dad, and I really mean that. I love you guys so much."
