Country Singer Arrested For Battery

Doug Stone faces domestic battery charges after an altercation with his son at a Panama City Beach resort, according to police.

Officers were called to a condo April 9 to break up a fight between the singer and his 21-year-old son, whom Stone allegedly had on the ground in a chinlock when police arrived.

Before the altercation, Stone, who had been drinking, struck a curb or parking block and popped a tire near the county pier, police told the News-Herald of Florida. Officers arrived on scene but were unable to charge him with DUI because they could not confirm he had been behind the wheel.

The subsequent argument with his son concerned the country singer’s drinking and culminated when police arrived at 3:30 a.m.

Stone’s son, Dustin, then agreed to press charges against his father for battery, the paper said. Dustin Stone, whose face was bloody when police arrived, claimed his father had repeatedly struck him in the head and face.

A spokesman for the singer said the incident was a family matter and Stone had no comment.

Stone had many hits in the 1990s, including “I’d Be Better Off in a Pine Box,” “In a Different Light” and “Why Didn’t I Think of That.”

He is scheduled to appear in court April 13.

Stone has a previous history of a domestic assault instance in Tennessee and criminal trespassing and resisting arrest without violence in Georgia, the paper said.