American society tends to place celebrities on a pedestal, as if they are infallible human beings worthy or great honor and praise. But all too often, those celebrities do something stupid and reveal that they are indeed quite fallible and prone to failure, just like everyone else.
Hollywood actor Vince Vaughn is the latest celebrity to come tumbling down off his pedestal after he was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Zero tolerance
According to local Sgt. Matt Sabosky, the arrest took place shortly after midnight on Sunday, when Vaughn approached a “zero tolerance” sobriety checkpoint in Manhattan Beach, near Los Angeles, CA.
Vaughn was arrested for suspected DUI, resisting arrest, and delaying or obstructing officers.
A male passenger in the vehicle with Vaughn whose name has not been released was also arrested on charges of obstructing officers and public intoxication, though no further details were made available.
A spokesman for the Manhattan Beach Police Department, Sgt. Tim Zins, clarified that Vaughn’s charge of resisting arrest wasn’t the result of any physical altercation with officers.
Zins explained that Vaughn was not “fighting with officers, but more of delaying the investigation.” He added: “There was no officer use of force or anything like that.”
A one-time mistake?
Both Vaughn and his unidentified male passenger were transported to the Manhattan Beach jail where they were processed and released a short time later.
There has been no word on the amount of bail that was posted by Vaughn or his companion, if any, and Vaughn’s representatives didn’t respond to requests for comment.
It is unclear if Vaughn will face punishment for this crime.
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Hopefully this was nothing more than a one-off incident and mistake by a popular and talented actor, and not a sign of more troubling behavior to come.
If Vaughn can use this experience to better himself, or speak out to urge others to avoid his mistake, he may regain some of his lost honor — but his fall nevertheless reminds us all that celebrities are regular people who fall short of glory just the same as the rest of us.