Police put out an all-points correction this morning on incorrect news reports that Kiowa Gordon of Twilight series fame was arrested for suspicion of DUI.
He wasn't even driving. But he was busted on Monday -- for an outstanding warrant.
Mesa police, in a news release this morning, blamed Channel 12 News (KPNX-TV) for broadcasting the false information, which they say has "now been picked up across the country."
A Google search shows that many outlets lifted the incorrect news from azcentral.com. That's what they get for poaching. An Arizona Republic article on the Web site about Gordon has for now been replaced by an ellipses.
The real story, though, is at least in the same ballpark.
Early Monday, a Tempe police officer saw Gordon and a friend motoring near McClintock
Drive and the Loop 202, Tempe Sergeant Steve Carbajal tells us.
The patrol officer thought they looked suspicious, so he ran the license plates, Carbajal says. The computer showed that the vehicle's owner, the 21-year-old Gordon, had an outstanding warrant from Mesa City Court for failure to appear in court.
Mesa police say Gordon skipped a $1,000 bond and had a bench warrant issued for his arrest because he didn't go a court hearing for his 2010 arrest on "DUI/drugs."
That incident began at about 9:20 p.m. on September 2, 2010, when an officer saw Gordon swerve into a bike lane near East Southern Avenue and Superstition Springs Boulevard, according to police. An officer trained in drug recognition determined that Gordon was under the influence of marijuana and took him for impaired driving, Mesa police say.
On Monday, Gordon -- who was a passenger in his own car -- was also found to have an outstanding warrant on a $500 bond from Scottsdale City Court.
Gordon was taken into custody by the Tempe officer and handed off to Mesa police. Carbajal says no new charges are being alleged from Monday's traffic stop.
Court records show that Gordon, who plays the werewolf Embry Call in the movie series, has an off-screen wild side, too.
He pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana in April and received a year of unsupervised probation and a $1,380 fine, and was convicted of drug paraphernalia possession in Scottsdale City Court in February of 2010 and August of 2009.
Legal problems aside, Gordon's done well as a budding actor, appearing in the movies Eclipse, New Moon and the upcoming Breaking Dawn Part 1.
Online bios say he was born in Berlin, his hometown is Peach Springs, and his mother's a Native American from the northern Arizona Hualapai tribe.
