Dashcam footage of Zach Bryan’s arrest has been released. The fast-rising country star was arrested in Vanita, Oklahoma, on September 7 by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for obstruction of investigation. Bryan’s security guard was pulled over for speeding through two different speed zones. After he was pulled over, Bryan arrived on the scene and parked his truck next to his security guard’s SUV to see what was going on.
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The video posted by TMZ shows Bryan getting out of his black truck and walking over to the security guard’s car. The cop then approaches Bryan as he stands next to the white vehicle and asks what he’s doing. “I’m wondering why it’s taking so long,” Bryan replied. “It’s not any of your business, you need to get back in your truck,” the officer stated. “You’re interfering with an officer discharging duties right now. You need to get back in your truck or go to jail, I don’t care which.”
That’s when Bryan said, “I’ll go to jail, let’s do it,” and put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed. He said that this is the second time it’s happened in three days. The officer explained that he was writing a citation for Bryan’s security guard for speeding. “I was just curious sir, I’m sorry,” the singer said.
[RELATED: Zach Bryan Addresses Arrest: “I Was Out of Line”]
The video then cuts to footage of Bryan, still in cuffs, sitting next to the officer inside the police vehicle. “These cops have just been way too brutal on me,” Bryan asserted. The two then start to argue back and forth recapping the events that led to the arrest and Bryan asking to be released from the handcuffs. “Right now this is because you were interfering with my traffic stop,” the officer said in response to Bryan’s comment that he didn’t need to be in handcuffs.
“This is why people do not like police officers,” Bryan said. “I will get back in my truck right now if you let me out of these handcuffs…These fucking cops are out of hand, truly.” The cop eventually lets Bryan out of the car, still in handcuffs. He was taken to jail and released shortly after on bail.
“I get too lippy with him, he brings me over to his car, and I just didn’t help my situation at all. I felt like a child. It was ridiculous. It was immature,” Bryan explained in a follow-up video after news of the arrest broke. “Fifteen minutes goes by, and I’m just mouthing off like an idiot. I’m like, ‘Man, someone’s gotta get ahold of you guys. Why are you using your authority like this? This is so wrong,’ when in reality, they were just doing their jobs. I was upset.”
The Outlaw Country playlist on Spotify updated its cover photo with Bryan’s mugshot on Friday (September 8), but it’s since been replaced as of Sunday (September 10). Bryan is currently at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his duet with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything.”
Photo by Trevor Pavlik/Courtesy of Warner Records
