TV Heart Throb’s Melt Down At American Airlines Gate Caught On Film

Richard Grieco starred beside Johnny Depp in FOX’s 21 Jump Street. Young girls everywhere had a poster of him up on their walls. Some say his career didn’t stay flying as high as it could have precisely because his co-star Depp was also beside him on those same teenage walls. Stardom wasn’t big enough for the two of them on the same stage.

Now Grieco is 54 years old, picks up the occasional role, but mostly lives the dream of being young and famous even though he’s neither any longer – and certainly doesn’t look the part.

About a week ago he was arrested at Dallas Fort-Worth airport for public intoxication. He was reportedly “hunched over the counter, yelling at employees and slurring his speech … he also reeked of booze.” He admitted two vodka cranberries and a prescription anti-seizure drug which he said was because he’s a nervous flyer.

Video of Grieco at an American Airlines gate, in police custody, has surfaced and was leaked to TMZ.

When confronted by police he declared himself the ultimate ‘don’t know you who I am,’ he says “I’m Richard Grieco, you guys know who I am.” An Officer asks him to rate how drunk he is on a scale of 1-10. He answers a 9. Then he changes his mind, so intoxicated he fails to understand the question.

He claims he’s being singled out because he’s famous. He’s asked to take a breathalyzer and he looks for advice. When he’s told “it’ll help us get you out of here quicker” and he takes that counsel. He blows into the machine and then asks “did I do good?” Grieco did great, reportedly blowing a .172.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Lots wrong here.

    Don’t see him doing anything wrong and how did this get “leaked” to TMZ? The real story here is sloppy work by law enforcement.

  2. Public intoxication is another one of those laws where there is no victim and no real crime. Instead of arresting people for not violating the rights of anyone, why not take him to the hospital. One of the reasons why the justice (really injustice) system is screwed up is because so many people are entered into the system who haven’t committed a real crime and while most of these people have charges dismissed or pay a fine, hundreds of thousands wind up in jail because of ridiculous bail amounts. Giving someone a criminal record when they haven’t violated the rights of another only guarantees more hardship and more crime as people get locked out of jobs and careers. Then some end up in an endless cycle of probation violations for nonsensical things all because they were on probation in the first place for again, not violating the rights of anyone. If cops ended the war on drugs and stopped enforcing arbitrary and abusive laws and focused on deterring rape, murder, theft, vandalism and defending the border against illegal immigration, we’d be much safer. But we have cops pulling people over by threat of force for not wearing seat belts (completely voluntary and consensual choice) and now the DOT wants a federal law mandating bicycle helmets so cops are going to pummel or shoot people if they continue biking without stopping because those people believe they should have freedom to not be accosted for making a personal choice about bike safety.

  3. Disappointed in you Gary. You’re readers don’t care about this trash gossip and you should have more compassion.

  4. This is awful! The footage was obviously “leaked” by a dirty cop, it’s his or her camera. Why does TMZ think this is worthwhile or interesting? The man is obviously down on his luck. Who cares that he wants to recall better times, but doesn’t everyone? Do better TMZ.

  5. I don’t pity Hollywood folks, but this is bad all around. He was drunk, big deal. From cuffing to filming and releasing to public, to being more calm than many non-intoxicated people, to wasting time and money, to you positing this.

    I for one will make sure that view from the wing does not appear on my feed anymore. Shame on you. TMZ is bad enough, but it’s their “business”, this is what’s wrong with so much on the net.

  6. I flew through DFW one day on my way to MSP. I landed there at 1015 only to discover my flight was cancelled and I wouldn’t be leaving until 730 instead of 1200. I had some lunch and a pint of beer. I checked with the gate agent and was told I probably would not make the next two flights. Wandered around the terminal for a bit and didn’t make the next flight either.

    By now it was nearly time for dinner so I went back to the same restaurant and had an app and an entree and two more beers. In the middle of dinner, I was actually confirmed on an earlier flight and upgraded. I finished up and walked to the gate only to be approached by three officers who asked to talk to me.

    They told me that someone called and said I was acting suspicious and they thought I was under the influence. I told them I had 3 beers in nearly 5-6 hours and showed them my receipts. They asked to search my backpack and I asked why. They said they believed I was on drugs. I asked what type and they said marijuana.

    At that point I just laughed and said I already told you guys I had a couple beers and did they think I was a college student or something. I opened my bag and said go for it. They found my sleeping pills for long haul flights and asked if I took those. I told them if I did, I would be stretched out on a bench right now. They found my miscellaneous jar and pulled out a pill and asked what it was. Told them antihistamines. They were on their phones checking the pill details and confirmed it. They pulled out another pill like immodium and asked and I said figure it out yourself.

    After 10 mins of this (and a phone call to my law enforcement brother) they took my boarding pass and handed it to the agent and told her to not let me board until they call them. I got on the flight with no further issues.

    Two weeks later I was informed by one of my employees that they searched her bag and found a wireless access point and asked her what it was for. She had her passport for ID and saw a stamp from Afghanistan and took her to a holding area with DFWPD. They interrogated her and she ended up missing her flight and had to wait until the morning to fly.

    I have been AA Plat and/or EXP since 2006 so I fly quite a bit. I will always be vigilant when passing through DFW due to this incident. I have never been treated this way in any other airport.

  7. I fly out of DFW with AA… service is laughably bad. Can sympathize here. Gave up expectations a long time ago‍♂️. If I get a “Good morning” then I feel lucky

  8. I have a lawsuit with AA and DFW from a terrorist slip and fall I experienced there during a storm and cancellation debacle. They kept changing times and terminals causing people to rush to various gates to get home! There was water or liquid on the tile floor, possibly from either umbrellas or a spill and just when I arrived at the 3rd terminal for my flight I slipped in it and my 59 year old body hit the floor hard. After some fellow passengers helpred me up I reported the fall to the gate person who supposedly called for help, none came. She then advised me that I could either board my flight and risk not being rebooked, or I could take my seat! I was bleeding and my knee was already swelling making it painful to walk. The flight attendant saw me with tears and made an ice pack and a rolled blanket (to elevate the leg) for my flight to CA. By the time we landed, my knee was so swollen they had to call an ambulance. I had a fractured foot. I no longer fly into DFW if I can avoid it.

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