Gary Collins Arrested: Actor Accused of Dine and Dash
JACKSON, Miss. (CBS/AP) Police in Mississippi say former TV host and actor Gary Collins was released Wednesday after spending a night in a detention center, charged with a felony after he was accused of leaving Jazzeppi's restaurant in Biloxi without paying his bill.
The 72-year-old was charged Tuesday night with defrauding an innkeeper, according to Rodney McGilvary, assistant chief of the Biloxi Police Department.
Collins was accused of walking out on a $59.35 bill at Jazzeppi's restaurant after dining alone, according to a police statement. Refusing to pay a bill of more than $25 is a felony in Mississippi.
Restaurant owner David Mattina told The Sun Herald he wasn't at the business at the time and regretted the incident.
"If I had been there, I don't think it would have amounted to anything," Mattina told the newspaper. "I'm going to see if I can get the charges dropped. I just don't know what transpired."
Mattina said Collins has been a customer for a while, but he hasn't met him.
McGilvary said Collins was drinking alcohol at the restaurant, but he wasn't sure how much or what kind of drinks. Restaurant employees had told Collins he needed to pay his bill and followed him into the parking lot, but he refused, police said.
Collins left the restaurant and was later found at a home in Biloxi, but he wasn't given a breath test because he wasn't operating a car when police arrived, McGilvary said.
Collins was taken to the Harrison County Detention Center in Gulfport and held overnight on a $5,000 bond, authorities said.
Collins posted bond thorough a bail bondsmen and left by private vehicle late Wednesday morning.
Collins starred in the 1970s series "The Sixth Sense" and had appearances on such series as "JAG," "Yes, Dear" and "The Young and the Restless," as well as on "The New Hollywood Squares."
He is married to Mary Anne Mobley, a former Miss America from Brandon, Miss., and they spend some of their time in the state.
In November, Collins was charged with a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident in Jackson. He was fined $500. Police in that case said Collins' Jeep rear-ended a Ford Focus at a stop light. He exchanged information with the other driver, but drove off before officers arrived.
In 2007, Collins was sentenced to four days in jail as the result of a car wreck in California. Police blamed that accident on the driver of the other car, though Collins pleaded no contest to misdemeanor driving under the influence.
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