Early Friday, Zach Bryan posted on social media a message detailing his side of what happened leading up to his arrest Thursday in Oklahoma.
The current Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping folk-country artist was arrested Thursday evening after what the “I Remember Everything” artist described on social media as an “incident with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.” In his close to five-minute narrative on the social media site, Bryan was calm and stated more than once that he “acted like a child” during the incident.
Bryan was taken to Craig County Sheriff’s Office in Vinita, Oklahoma, upon being detained, he had a mugshot taken at 6:42 p.m. CT after being booked on what was described as an “obstruction of investigation” charge, according to the sheriff’s office’s available online records.
Bryan’s explanation of what led to his arrest and subsequent release from jail Thursday began with something that happened a day before when he was pulled over for speeding in Oklahoma.
Zach Bryan opens up on what led to the arrest
In his video, Bryan explained his motivation for getting ahead of the story so that it wasn’t blown out of proportion on the Internet.
“I just wanted to be completely transparent with everyone who listens to my music about what happened yesterday with me getting arrested and everything,” he said sitting in his vehicle traveling to New York with his dog Jack.
Byran admitted to being arrested after his bodyguard was pulled over on Thursday, but he also mentioned an incident with police the day before when he was pulled over for speeding.
He admits to driving a few miles over the speed limit when he was pulled over by police. During the interaction, an officer asked for his address which Bryan refused to give at first. He mentioned that he was a musician and wasn’t willing to give that out. When Bryan refused to give him the address, the police officer reportedly put the singer in handcuffs.
The situation was worked out and Bryan stated he finally gave the officer his address.
“It frustrated me a lot because I didn’t know if I had a right to refuse him my address or not,” Bryan said.
Why was Zach Bryan arrested?
The next day, Thursday, Bryan and his security guard were leaving to head to Boston when his bodyguard was pulled over in Vinita.
Bryan stated he pulled up near the stop and was waiting “10-15 minutes” for the traffic stop. He mentioned getting out of his vehicle to smoke a cigarette when police told him to get back in it or he would be taken to jail.
“Like a dumbass, I said, ‘Take me to (expletive) jail? What do you mean’,” he said in the video.
The incident led to Bryan in handcuffs, sitting in a patrol vehicle. Bryan admits to getting angry and “mouthing off”. He said he kept interrupting the officer as he tried to tell him something and he went to jail.
During Bryan’s retelling of the events that transpired, he expressed regret for the way he acted.
“I didn’t help my situation at all. I felt like a child,” he said.
Did Zach Bryan go to jail?
Bryan stated he spent several hours in the Craig County jail. He’s charged with obstruction of an investigation, according to the sheriff’s office’s available online records.
“I was just an idiot and I’ll take the fall for it. I’m a grown man and I shouldn’t behaved like that and it won’t happen again,” the singer said on social media.
What is obstruction of investigation?
Oklahoma state law defines “obstruction of investigation” as “willfully delaying or obstructing any public officer in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his office.” This is a misdemeanor charge in Oklahoma.
A defendant need not use physical force to be charged with obstruction.
