Remember When: Bob Dylan Was Picked up by Police After New Jersey Residents Reported Him “Suspicious”

Bob Dylan might be an international musical icon and ten-time Grammy winner, but not even those impressive accolades were enough to prevent him from getting picked up by the police after residents of Long Branch, New Jersey, called him in for suspicious behavior.

To the locals’ credit, Dylan was acting rather strangely for the Average Joe. Of course, if you’re Bob Dylan, walking through the rain alone in disheveled clothes is just a typically moody way to pass the time in between concerts.

Unfortunately for the “Tangled Up In Blue” singer, no one believed him when he said who he was—including the cop who picked him up.

Police Responded To Concerned Calls About The Suspicious Man

On July 23, 2009, Bob Dylan was in the middle of the Never Ending Tour with fellow musical icons Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. During a stop in Long Branch, New Jersey, Dylan decided to kill a little time by taking a solo stroll down a residential street. Dylan ventured into the yard of a house with a “For Sale” sign out front, presumably unaware that there were still people living inside the home.

When the residents spotted Dylan in their yard, clad in a hood and soaked in rain, they quickly called the police to report the “eccentric-looking old man” trespasser. One spooked citizen even followed Dylan down the road, still unable to recognize him in his incognito get-up. “It was pouring rain outside, and I was right around the corner, so I responded,” Long Branch police officer Kristie Buble recalled to ABC News.

“By that time, he was walking down the street,” Buble continued. “I asked him what he was doing in the neighborhood, and he said he was looking at a house for sale. I asked him what his name was, and he said, ‘Bob Dylan.’ I’ve seen pictures of Bob Dylan from a long time ago, and he didn’t look like Bob Dylan to me at all. He was wearing black sweatpants tucked into black rain boots and two raincoats with the hood pulled down over his head.”

Even The Responding Officer Was Suspicious Of Bob Dylan

When Officer Buble asked Bob Dylan to produce identification, he had none to give, prompting her to grow even more suspicious. “We see a lot of people on our beat, and I wasn’t sure if he came from one of our hospitals or something. He was acting very suspicious. Not delusional, just suspicious,” she clarified to ABC. “It was pouring rain and everything.” Unwilling to take Dylan at his word, Buble asked him to hop in the cruiser so she could drive him to the hotel where he said he was staying.

“He was really nice, though,” Buble added, “and he said he understood why I had to verify his identity and why I couldn’t let him go. He asked me if I could drive him back to the neighborhood when I verified who he was, which made me even more suspicious.” Eventually, Buble arrived at the hotel and spotted Dylan’s massive tour bus caravan. She located the star’s manager, who provided Dylan’s passport. Buble released Dylan on his way and received a good bit of teasing from her department for the incident.

Nevertheless, Buble isn’t the first person not to recognize Dylan. Not even his colleagues have always been able to see past his scruffy appearance, like the time Elton John mistook Dylan for an overstepping gardener at a house party in Los Angeles. As for the residents and law enforcement officers of Long Branch, better safe than sorry, right?

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