‘Vampire Diaries’ Star Zach Roerig Arrested On DUI Charges In His Hometown

The Vampire Diaries actor Zach Roerig has been arrested on charges that he was operating a vehicle while impaired. According to People, the Montpelier Police Department in Ohio confirms that Roerig was arrested on Sunday at roughly 2:30 a.m. Roerig was originally stopped because he was driving without a front license plate.

A spokesperson for the department said that Roerig has been charged with a first degree misdemeanor, which is the highest level of misdemeanor in Ohio. The Vampire Diaries actor was released on his own recognizance on the condition that he appear for his arraignment on June 4. Roerig was apparently released to a sober individual.

TMZ also reported that Roerig was arrested after police noticed his slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and the smell of alcohol. He was then issued several sobriety tests, and reportedly told the officers that he couldn’t take the tests without a beer. Once he was placed in his jail cell, TMZ‘s sources said he urinated there.

Roerig is best known for his performance on The Vampire Diaries as Matt Donavan. He was a main character on the show, and also appeared in its spinoffs, Legacies and The Originals. Donavan was one of the few human characters in the cast, and spent the early part of the show’s run learning of the existence of supernatural creatures.

The actor also appeared in the USA series Dare Me, which was critically acclaimed, but was canceled in April after a single season.

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Other than appearances for his professional work, Roerig was last in the news during a custody battle he had with an incarcerated women named Alanna Turner, according to TMZ.

In 2013, Roerig and Turner fought for custody of their daughter, who was born in January of 2011. According to the outlet, Roerig filed for sole custody because Turner has been arrested at least three times and has pleaded guilty to “various crimes.”

Roerig also asked that Turner pay child support. TMZ eventually reported that Roerig had been granted sole custody of their child. Prior to the custody battle, Roerig had largely kept his child out of the public eye.

Roerig and his team have yet to make any public comment on the arrest, but he’s far from the first celebrity to be arrested for a DUI. During his time on Lost in Hawaii, Roerig’s Vampire Diaries co-star, Ian Somerhalder, was pulled over on two separate occasions for speeding on the island of Oahu. Somerhalder was one of several members of Lost‘s cast to be arrested for driving infractions on the show.