3 Doors Down Bassist Enters Rehab

Harrell was also charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, violation of the implied consent law and possession of contraband. The charges stem from a fatal car accident that occurred late Friday night near Nashville on Interstate 40.

“He was released on bond and immediately went and checked himself into treatment,” said Nashville criminal defense lawyer Ed Ryan, according to the Associated Press. Ryan emphasized that the treatment was not court-ordered. He declined to give any further details, saying that he had just started working on the case.

Harrell was speeding Friday when his car hit a pickup truck, which “went out of control, struck a guardrail, went down an embankment and overturned,” according to the AP. The pickup truck driver, 47-year-old Paul Howard Shoulders Jr., was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from his vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Although the police report says Harrell admitted to drinking hard cider earlier Friday, a breathalyzer showed he didn’t have any alcohol in his system. The bassist, who acknowledged taking prescription drugs Lortab and Xaxax, tried to hide a stash of drugs. In the booking room sheriff’s deputies found 8 Xanax pills, 24 Oxycodone pills and 4 Oxymorphone pills in a plastic bag in Harrell’s sock.

Friday’s accident wasn’t Harrell’s first arrest. Last year he was charged with a DUI and not wearing a seatbelt after failing to stop at an intersection and crashing into a pickup truck.

In 1999 he was arrested for public intoxication.

As of the time of this post, 3 Doors Down has not commented about the bassist’s decision to enter rehab. The band’s most recent update was Monday’s post on its website saying the band was canceling its four scheduled U.S. shows in April and May “out of respect to Paul Howard Shoulders, Jr., and his family.”