DALLAS — The morning after his arrest at Dallas Love Field for disorderly conduct, actor Judge Reinhold said he is embarrassed about his behavior. He also apologized to the Dallas Police Department for wasting its time.
“I have to say that the past 48 hours have been the most unusual, hair-raising and regrettable two days of my life,” Reinhold said in a written statement released through his Dallas attorneys, Thomas Melsheimer and Steve Stodghill. “At best, it’s a cautionary tale.”
The actor – best known for his roles in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise and “The Santa Clause” movies – was arrested Thursday afternoon after police said he became belligerent with Transportation Safety Administration agents who asked to pat him down. He was similarly antagonistic toward police officers.
Reinhold blamed his behavior on a reaction to multiple medications he’d been given the night before.
“No matter how seemingly harmless a medication can be, don’t ever introduce anything into your body chemistry when you’re about to travel,” he said. “I was prescribed the antibiotic Cipro for a respiratory infection the night before a flight. Within 20 minutes of taking it, I looked like I’d been bitten by Spider-Man and blew up like the Macy’s (Thanksgiving) Day Parade.”
Reinhold said that “against my protest,” his wife, Amy, dialed 911 and that when paramedics arrived they administered epinephrine and “super Benadryl,” and took him to a hospital to keep an eye on him. He was there for several hours Wednesday.
The actor said he was then given Xanax and Prednisone “to ward off any recurrence of the reaction while in flight.”
“I was calmly told that if my wife had not called 911, there was a good chance I may not have made it there,” Reinhold said.
He and his family went to Love Field on Thursday afternoon to catch a flight back to New Mexico, where the actor lives most of the year.
He said he “successfully walked through the TSA scanner only to be told by a trainee that it looked like I had a mysterious shape in by backpack. This turned out to be a dense stack of DVD and CDs I always carry without incident.”
But not this time.
“Because of my bag I was told I had to get the pat-down,” Reinhold said.
At that point, the actor acknowledged, he began to argue with the agent.
“Never a good idea.”
Reinhold said two Dallas police officers were called to calm him down. He said they “gave me every opportunity to keep my mouth shut.”
Alas, he said, he didn’t take them up on their offer.
“This led to my arrest,” he said. “I knew better, I just didn’t do the right thing.”
The arrest occurred about 1:30 p.m. He was taken to Dallas County jail and charged with the Class C misdemeanor that comes with a $500 fine. He was not released from jail until early Friday.
In his statement, the man best known as Brad Hamilton and Detective Sgt. Billy Rosewood apologized to the TSA – both the “experienced agents as well as the recent influx of trainees that seem unprepared to detain people,” he said.
“I feel especially embarrassed about self-righteous indignation when I’ve enjoyed 30 years of support and camaraderie with law enforcement,” he said. “I want to apologize to the Dallas Police for wasting their time.”
