Brent Wilson, the original bassist of Brendon Urie‘s Panic! at the Disco, was arrested in his home base of Las Vegas last month. He’s now facing multiple felonies for drugs and possession of a gun, as TMZ revealed in an exposé that included Wilson’s mugshot on Thursday (Feb. 4).
According to a Las Vegas Metro Police Department report obtained by the tabloid, Wilson found himself involved in a traffic stop on Jan. 22. The cops claimed he crossed three lanes of traffic without initiating a turn signal and cut off oncoming traffic. Once Wilson was pulled over, an officer said he spotted a bag containing a white substance inside the onetime Panic! at the Disco member’s car.
After searching the musician’s person and vehicle, the police reported that they discovered substances resembling coke and heroin in Wilson’s pockets and inside the car. They also said they found a scale and a stash of small baggies. Further, cops purportedly recovered a loaded handgun.
Subsequently, Wilson, evidently on probation for a prior offense, was booked into jail and charged with possession with intent to sell and possession of a gun by a prohibited person. His attorney, Dustin Marcello, told TMZ it’s too early to make a forecast on the case based on its merits.
Longtime Panic! at the Disco listeners might remember Wilson’s messy departure from the band back in 2006. He helped found the group in 2004 alongside original guitarist Ryan Ross, drummer Spencer Smith and frontman Urie. (Ross parted ways with P!ATD three years later, in 2009.)
“I was kicked out of the band,” Wilson once told MTV. “It was 100 percent a surprise to me. We were about to leave for a show in California, and they called me the night before and told me I was out of the band. The only reason they gave was that it was for ‘musical purposes.’ Everything was good and fine, we had just gotten back from a tour in Europe, and there had been no previous conversations about anyone leaving the band.”
Smith, who would perform with the band until 2015, claimed differently. He said Wilson was ousted based on his “lack of responsibility and the fact that he wasn’t progressing musically with the band.”
The drummer continued, “Brent did not write any of his bass parts on [Panic! at the Disco’s 2005 debut, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out]. Brent did not record one note of bass on the record. Brendon and Ryan wrote all of the bass parts, and Brendon recorded all of the bass parts. We had to simplify some of the bass parts that were recorded because Brent could not play them live.”
Whatever the case, Urie now remains the sole original member of the outfit.
