Jailed Scott Weiland Impersonator Fools Police For a Whole Month

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Sometimes, you simply don't know what to believe!


TMZ
reported recently
that former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland had spent the last few weeks in jail after being charged with possession of methamphetamine. According to the article, the Beverly Hills Police picked him up for shoplifting, and then found the drugs.

This, however, was news to Weiland, who took to his Facebook page to tell the world that he was not, in any way, currently incarcerated. In the video, Weiland is in a recording studio with members of his band The Wildabout.


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"I just got done reading something interesting: a nice piece of fiction from TMZ saying that I was in jail and had been for four months," Weiland said. In fairness, the TMZ article claimed it had been four weeks. However, Weiland revealed what he's been up the last few months. "I've actually been touring, writing and recording my new album."

Weiland goes on to assure his fans that the story is a lie, and tells TMZ, "You'll be hearing from my attorneys."

 This all begs the question: What is going on?

According to TMZ, they reached out to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, who did in fact confirm that Weiland had been arrested on July 26. The man declared upon arrest said that he was the Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots, and was booked with that name.


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Somehow, the fact that the man they had in jail wasn't actually a hugely famous rock musician never came to light until now.

After Weiland posted the video assuring the world that he wasn't in prison (and proved it by not being in prison in the video), TMZ naturally called the cops to find out what was going on.

Again, the Sheriffs assured TMZ that they did, in fact, have Weiland in custody. According to the site, the Sheriffs said, "He is definitely in custody. We did a physical check on that inmate and he is currently in custody."


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Soon after, police then released this statement to the press:


"On Saturday, July 26, 2014, at approximately 9:34 a.m., the Beverly Hills Police Department received a call of a shoplift that had just occurred at the Rite Aid in the 400 Block of N. Bedford Drive. Police units ultimately arrested a suspect for that crime. Upon arrest, the suspect identified himself as former Stone Temple Pilots band member Scott Weiland. The suspect was taken into custody for Burglary (459 P.C.) and Possession of a Controlled Substance (11377 H & S Code).


On Thursday, August 21, 2014, Beverly Hills Police discovered through an FBI Fingerprint Return that the subject arrested was not Scott Weiland. The fingerprint return positively identified the individual as Jason Michael Hurley (44 years of age). Beverly Hills Police will be requesting an additional criminal filing on Hurley for 148.9 (a) P.C. – Furnishing False Information to a Peace Officer. Records will be updated to properly reflect this information."


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At this time, it is unclear why it took 27 days to get a finger print check, or why the arresting officers or anyone involved with the case didn't attempt to get proper legal ID, or reach out to the real Scott Weiland or his legal representatives.

What's also unclear is why the man arrested wouldn't – in some way – need to get in touch with legal representation who would immediately know he wasn't an iconic musician.


According to The Wrap
, a Sheriff's Department spokesperson told them, "We confirmed that inside the jail is someone booked as Scott Klein Weiland. We confirmed that that person was there inside the jail. So that is what we confirmed. What we are trying to do now is to speak to the Beverly Hills Police Department to find out what the deal is. We are trying to find out what is going on with this."