Naked City

According to an arrest affidavit, Austin police on March 29 (around 2:45am) arrested actor Jason Patric, who plays Jim Bowie in the new Alamo movie, in the Warehouse District for public intoxication and resisting arrest. In the sworn affidavit, Officer Joshua Visi and his partner, Officer Randall Casler, indicate they were on routine patrol when they noticed a mass of people in the intersection of Fifth and Colorado, among them Patric. "Officer Casler asked the large group of people to move out of the roadway and onto the sidewalk," wrote Visi. Apparently Patric didn't respond quickly enough and, according to the officer, made the mistake of "mocking" Casler.

"I approached Patric and asked him if he had a problem complying with Officer Casler's request to move onto the sidewalk," he wrote. "Patric assumed an aggressive stance and said ['No']. I told Patric that he had two choices, he could comply with Officer Casler's lawful request ... or he could go to jail for public intoxication." Patric – perhaps still in character as the notoriously combative Bowie – told Visi he wasn't drunk and challenged the officers to administer a drunk test. Visi told Patric that a test wouldn't be necessary, because he'd already "made that determination."

Then, according to the affidavit, a scuffle ensued as Visi tried to cuff Patric, who forcefully resisted by trying to push Visi away. The two fell to the ground – Visi sustained a "minor abrasion" to his right elbow – and eventually Patric was arrested and charged with public intoxication (a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $500 fine), and resisting arrest (a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or up to a $4,000 fine). Patric was released from the Travis Co. Jail on a personal bond.

APD Chief Stan Knee told the Austin American-Statesman that he believes the arrest was lawful and "consistent with the zero-tolerance policy we have downtown." Skeptics will note the same was said of the March 18 Ozomatli arrests on Sixth Street, but police sources tell us that in Patric's case, the skeptics would be wrong. An in-car video camera captured the entire event, they say, and the footage comports with the officers' version of events. Naked City's own review of the video footage is less conclusive: Much of the action is obscured by both the police vehicle and another vehicle parked directly in front of the incident. Where's a cinematographer when you need one?