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JACKSON, Miss. -- Actor and former TV host Gary Collins was in a south Mississippi jail early Wednesday, charged with a felony after being accused of leaving a restaurant without paying his bill, police said.
Rodney McGilvary, assistant chief of the Biloxi Police
Department, confirmed that Collins was charged Tuesday night with
defrauding an innkeeper. He was taken to the Harrison County
Detention Center in Gulfport and held on a $5,000 bond.
Authorities said Collins was expected to face a court hearing
during the day Wednesday.
McGilvary said he wasn't sure if Collins had a lawyer.
Collins walked out on a $59.35 bill at Jazzeppi's restaurant,
according to a statement released by the police department.
Refusing to pay a bill of more than $25 is a felony in Mississippi.
McGilvary said Collins was drinking alcohol at the restaurant,
but he wasn't sure how much or what kind of drinks were consumed.
Collins left the restaurant and was later found at a home in
Biloxi, but he wasn't given a breath test because he wasn't
operating a car when police arrived, McGilvary said.
Restaurant employees told Collins he needed to pay his bill and
followed him into the parking lot, but he refused, police said. A
call to Jazzeppi's was not immediately returned.
Collins starred in the 1970s series "The Sixth Sense" and has
made appearances on such series as "JAG," "Yes, Dear" and "The
Young and the Restless," as well as on "The New Hollywood
Squares."
He is married to Mary Anne Mobley, a former Miss America from
Brandon, Miss., and they spend some of their time in the state.
In November, Collins was charged with a misdemeanor for leaving
the scene of an accident in Jackson. He was fined $500. Police in
that case said Collins' Jeep rear-ended a Ford Focus at a stop
light. He exchanged information with the other driver, but drove
off before officers arrived.
The attorney who represented Collins in that case didn't
immediately respond Wednesday to a message left by The Associated
Press.
In 2007, Collins was sentenced to four days in jail as the
result of a car wreck in California. Police blamed that accident on
the driver of the other car, but Collins pleaded no contest to
misdemeanor driving under the influence.