Top 10 Celebrities Who Ran From The Law
#10: Chris Brown
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In 2016, police in Tarzana, California received a 9-1-1 call at three in the morning. It was a young woman, calling from the home of singer/songwriter Chris Brown. Brown, she said, pointed a gun at her head demanding that she leave his house. The police arrived later that morning - both robbery/homicide cops and S.W.A.T. Brown absolutely refused to negotiate. Instead, he posted several angry video rants to his Instagram account. The standoff lasted for three hours until Brown let everyone go. The cops moved in and arrested Brown, though the charges were ultimately dropped.
#9: Katt Williams
You don’t often see 3-wheeler motorbikes on the road, and a police chase involving one is even rarer. And yet, that’s exactly what happened when comedian Katt Williams evaded Sacramento police in 2012. The police claim that Williams rode his motorbike onto the sidewalk. When they asked him to stop, he refused to comply. The police claim he nearly hit five pedestrians as they gave chase. After Williams allegedly blew through stop lights, the police ended their pursuit. They found him several weeks later and arrested him on a warrant for the incident.
#8: Mel Gibson
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In 2006, Mel Gibson was pulled over for drunk driving. Overshadowed by his now infamous anti-Semitic rant, his reaction to the police went under-reported. According to TMZ, sheriff deputies ‘sanitized’ their report, leaving out important details. Initially, the sheriff’s department claimed to have arrested Gibson ‘without incident.’ The first draft was later leaked and authenticated by the L.A. Times. In it, the arresting officer claims that he told Mel to get into the squad car peacefully. Instead, Gibson dashed towards his own car attempting to escape. Drunk as he was, Mel didn’t get very far. The officer handcuffed the actor and brought him in.
#7: Jake Lloyd
The entire history of film is replete with stories of child stars chewed up and spit out by the system. That is part of the story of Jake Lloyd, the actor behind Anakin Skywalker in “The Phantom Menace.” Jake was mistreated throughout his childhood because of the film. In 2015, his mother had to call the police after a violent outburst. Later that year, the cops chased Jake down after running a red light in South Carolina. He fled until he lost control of his vehicle. Eventually, Jake was transferred to a psychiatric facility to get the help he needed. According to his mom, he was ultimately diagnosed with Schizophrenia and has since been getting treatment.
#6: Ol' Dirty Bastard
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For some celebrities, being a fugitive adds to their mystique. Such was the case with Wu-Tang Clan founding member Ol’ Dirty Bastard. ODB had several run-ins with the law in the 1990s. In 1999, he narrowly avoided getting killed by the NYPD. They shot at him eight times, claiming (without evidence) that he fired first. A year later in October, he escaped from a court-mandated drug facility. For a month, ODB evaded the law. He appeared at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York at a record release party. He told the crowd, “I can't stay on the stage too long tonight - the cops is after me.” He somehow escaped again, only to be arrested in Philly a few days later. He was caught signing autographs at a local McDonald’s.
#5: James Brown
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Few police chases compare to the run made by The Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Brown had brushes with the law for much of his life. He’d spent time in juvenile detention. He allegedly participated in a 1963 shooting. It all came to a head, though, in 1988. Angry that someone from a local group used his bathroom, Brown accosted them with a gun. Then, with drugs and an unlicensed pistol in his car, he ran from the police. Brown later claimed they attacked him, so he fled for his life. As he testified in court, "I was scared to death... I went to Vietnam and I wasn't that frightened." The cops chased him across both South Carolina and Georgia before arresting him.
#4: Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid’s fall into conspiracy and fear has been a decade-long wild ride. Quaid and his wife were caught squatting in their former guest house in Santa Barbara in 2010. They were charged with burglary. After skipping court, they ran to Canada seeking asylum. Quaid claimed that there was a secret hit squad out to murder certain celebrities. He said they’d killed Heath Ledger and David Carradine - and were now after him and his wife. Almost three years later, Canadian police arrested the couple. When his appeals ran out in 2015, they snuck into Vermont where they were again arrested. A judge there voided California’s request for extradition. Ever since, the couple has lived in Vermont, fugitives from the law in California.
#3: Ezra Miller
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Anyone who has followed celebrity news over the pandemic has seen the trials and tribulations of Ezra Miller. The “Flash” and “Fantastic Beasts” star has allegedly committed a series of crimes around the globe. Starting in 2020, a video went viral of Miller apparently choking a woman in front of an Icelandic bar. While a criminal complaint was issued, no charges were filed. Then, in the spring of 2022, Miller was arrested twice for violent incidents in Hawaii. At the start of that summer, Miller was accused of hiding from law enforcement. They were trying to serve Miller with a protective order from the parents of an 18-year-old activist. Another order of protection was issued in Massachusetts, followed by arrests and more accusations in Vermont.
#2: O. J. Simpson
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“The O.J. Trial” was a quintessential 90s event. In 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were found brutally murdered. Five days later, an arrest warrant was issued for O.J. Before they found him, Simpson’s lawyer, Robert Kardashian, publicly read a troubling note. A little more than an hour later, the police tracked O.J. to the interstate. He was in the back of his friend’s white Ford Bronco, allegedly pointing a gun at his own head. Tens of millions were glued to their televisions in rapt fascination. News choppers taped the car’s 45-minute trek down the highway. A fleet of police cars followed in slow pursuit until, at his home in Brentwood, O.J. was eventually taken into custody.
#1: Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski has been a controversial figure in Hollywood for forty-five years. In 1977, the then 43-year-old director was charged for his alleged actions towards a teenaged girl. Polanski pled guilty to a lesser offense, expecting probation. However, the judge planned to reject the plea deal and sentence Polanski to prison. The Polish-born director fled to France and has been a fugitive ever since. To this day, Polanski is a polarizing filmmaker. He has since admitted to being attracted to teenage girls; five other women have accused him of assault. That hasn’t stopped him from working. He continued to both direct and win multiple awards, including an Oscar for “The Pianist” in 2002. There were walkouts in 2020 when he won the César award.
