Richard Grieco, who starred opposite Johnny Depp on 21 Jump Street, was arrested at the Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport Thursday because police believed he was too drunk to fly. He tried to get on a flight from Texas to Pennsylvania, but was taken from the gate before he got on the plane. Grieco is best known for his role on 21 Jump Street as Officer Dennis Booker, and starred in his own spin-off.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ police were called to the gate for Grieco’s flight by an agent who stopped him from getting on a plane. Grieco hunched over a counter, started yelling at employees and was slurring his speech. The employees also thought he smelled of alcohol.
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Police asked Grieco to sit down for a talk, where he admitted to drinking two cranberry vodkas, according to TMZ. The officers took the actor into custody and officers said he was “unsteady on his feet” when he was booked for public intoxication.
According to the arrest report obtained by TMZ, Grieco had prescription Klonopin in his bag. He said he takes the medication because he is a “nervous flier,” but the medication should not be taken with alcohol, police said.
The airline put Frieco on a different flight for Friday morning.
Grieco later told TMZ this was an “unfortunate incident” and “not that big of a deal.”
Grieco, 54, began his career in 1987, and found his breakthrough role on 21 Jump Street a year later. He only appeared in 18 episodes between 1988 and 1989. He later scored a spin-off, simply titled Booker, but it only lasted one season, from 1989 to 1990.
The actor has continued to appear in movies and television shows, and reprised his role of Booker in 2014’s 22 Jump Street, opposite Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. He also appeared in episodes of Veronica Mars and voiced a character on Disney’s ’90s animated series Gargoyles. In 2016, he played himself in an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Since 2009, Grieco has focused on painting, and dubbed his style “abstract emotionalism.”
“My work is capturing lightning in a bottle, it’s a pure unbridled emotion,” Grieco said in a statement on his website. “I am a painter who puts his emotions on canvas and honestly my work is as much part of my life as breathing.”
Photo credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
