Steve-O Swallows-- Gets Arrested

[SBTB Geek]

FROM: www.mtvnews.com

"Jackass" co-star Steve-O has been arrested in Sweden, facing charges of narcotics smuggling and possession of illegal drugs.

The stuntman, whose real name is Stephen Glover, was arrested Thursday, and though he has yet to be formally charged, he has been prevented from talking to an attorney, his lawyer Jason Berk said. Glover, however, has made contact with the U.S. Embassy.

The possible charges stem from Glover's boasts that he had swallowed a condom filled with marijuana, a stunt he claimed he had tried while en route from Oslo, Norway, to Stockholm, Sweden, while on his "Don't Try This at Home" tour in Europe. In an e-mail sent to MTV News on May 15, Glover described the stunt, saying that the day or so previous, he had "loaded a bunch of marijuana, a chunk of hash, and a big rolling paper into a condom" and ingested it with much pain while a member of his crew, Mike Liddle, filmed him.

"Now it's been over 24 hours since I swallowed it and I'm convinced it's not in my throat anymore, but that my throat simply received injuries from the whole ordeal," he wrote. "I really don't want to puke the whole thing up because I really think I might choke to death. ... I wish what I went through on nobody.' "

On Wednesday, Glover e-mailed another missive that he had finally passed the drug-filled condom and was much relieved.

However, Glover didn't just describe the stunt to MTV News. Apparently, while in Sweden, he talked to local media about it as well, tipping off police who raided his hotel room in Stockholm and took Glover into custody. Police took an X-ray of Glover's body and found a "foreign object," but have yet to say what that foreign object was, according to his lawyer. Police also claim that they found ecstasy and marijuana in the hotel room.

"To the best of my knowledge, there were no drugs found either in his hotel room or on his person," Berk said. "The Swedish authorities' only basis for believing that any wrongdoing occurred is derived from comments made by an outrageous entertainer boasting about a 'stunt.' "

Glover's camp is taking the possible charges very seriously. Swedish drug laws are notoriously strict, even for possession of small amounts of drugs, and do not distinguish between possession for personal use or for other purposes. Possession of a small amount of marijuana normally incurs only a fine (the maximum sentence would be six months), but when possession relates to smuggling, the offender faces prison time of two to 10 years.

"There's nothing evidencing that he had any involvement with drugs other than entertaining e-mails sent to his fans and outlandish statements made to the press," Berk said. "There is no evidence to show that the stunt actually occurred, or if it occurred, that Steve-O engaged in any type of wrongful activities. It should be remembered that this is a person who has historically made outlandish claims as part of his performance art and as a pop icon. I believe this to be a major misunderstanding and a failure to differentiate between the person and his art."

Swedish authorities are currently deciding whether Glover should be kept in police custody while prosecutors prepare any charges; a detention hearing is being scheduled for the weekend.

The U.S. Embassy office in Stockholm was unavailable for comment.

—Jennifer Vineyard