Welfare Check Leads to Another Arrest for Paul Rodriguez

Comedian, 70, is arrested on charges of narcotics possession, same as he was in March
Posted Aug 15, 2025 9:21 AM CDT
Comic Paul Rodriguez Busted Again for Drugs
Comedian Paul Rodriguez is seen Nov. 23, 2023, in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

When Paul Rodriguez was arrested earlier this year in California for narcotics possession, his lawyers insisted that the drugs belonged to the driver of the vehicle he was riding in, not to Rodriguez. Police now say the 70-year-old comedian is once more in legal trouble, after being arrested Monday (again in Burbank) and slapped with a similar misdemeanor drug possession charge. Sgt. Stephen Turner of the Burbank Police Department says that officers were carrying out a welfare check at a local restaurant after a witness called in a report of a man and woman who were "under the influence and not alert," per the Los Angeles Times.

When cops showed up at the scene around 8:30pm local time, they say they found Rodriguez and a woman inside a vehicle in a nearby parking structure, with the comedian in the driver's seat. Turner says that Xanax and heroin were found inside the woman's bag, while Rodriguez was found to have Xanax and "suspected fentanyl" inside his vehicle. Rodriguez once again denied the drugs were his, Turner notes.

Per NBC Los Angeles, a friend died at Rodriguez's home in November after using fentanyl, meth, and phencyclidine, or PCP, according to the coroner. Rodriguez told TMZ at the time that Donald Serrato had been staying with him for a few days, and that his girlfriend had found Serrato dead in the comedian's home after Rodriguez had left for work that day; Rodriguez had asked her to check on Serrato after he didn't answer Rodriguez's phone calls. Rodriguez was reportedly released from custody in the latest case early Tuesday, a citation in hand, and is set to appear in court on Sept. 5.

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