Why These New Jersey Homeowners Called the Cops on Bob Dylan: “He Was Acting Very Suspicious”

Bob Dylan is Bob Dylan—nobody really ever knows his next move, nor why the man does what he does. Seemingly, he acts upon impulse, and consequently, he has been stuck in some rather bizarre situations, some known to us, and many likely unknown to us. Well, one bizarre situation Dylan was stuck in was in Long Branch, New Jersey, when he was detained by a young police officer for “acting very suspicious,” via ABC.

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In August of 2009, Bob Dylan was on tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. During their stop in Long Branch, Dylan went on a walk and found himself in a residential neighborhood. Seemingly intrigued by a house with a for-sale sign, Dylan waltzed into the yard. Subsequently, the home’s occupants called the police, reporting that they’d seen an “eccentric-looking old man” in their front yard. Reportedly, one of the home’s occupants went so far as to follow Bob Dylan.

The 24-year-old Cop who Detained Bob Dylan

The officer who arrived on the scene was the 24-year-old Long Branch police officer Kristie Buble. Recalling the incident, she stated, “We got a call for a suspicious person. It was pouring rain outside, and I was right around the corner, so I responded. By that time, he was walking down the street. I asked him what he was doing in the neighborhood, and he said he was looking at a house for sale.”

As a police officer does, Buble asked Dylan to identify himself. He did informally, but she was incredibly skeptical that he was the real Bob Dylan. “Now, I’ve seen pictures of Bob Dylan from a long time ago, and he didn’t look like Bob Dylan to me at all…So I said, ‘OK Bob, what are you doing in Long Branch?’ He said he was touring the country with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. So now I’m really a little fishy about his story. I did not know what to believe or where he was coming from, or even who he was,” continued Buble. Buble added, “He was acting very suspicious,” Buble said. “Not delusional, just suspicious. You know, it was pouring rain and everything.”

Dylan had no proper form of identification on him, so Buble put him in the back of her car and drove him to where he could pick up his identification. Lo and behold, when she arrived at Dylan’s hotel, there was a bunch of enormous tour buses. Dylan’s team showed Buble his passport, she then gave it back, and let Dylan go. Funny enough, Dylan asked Buble if she could drive him back to the same neighborhood after she’d confirmed his identity.

Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for VH1