As one of the poster children for reality TV's stronghold on cable, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star Alana Thompson has been in the spotlight for the majority of her life, albeit less so in recent years. However, the 17-year-old found herself caught in flashing police lights this week, as she was in the vehicle her 21-year-old boyfriend was driving as he led authorities in a relatively short-lived car chase that ended with multiple arrests for a variety of charges.
According to police, who spoke with the Georgia-based Monroe County Reporter, Honey Boo Boo's boyfriend Dralin Carswell was driving a Dodge Charger on Tuesday afternoon, with Thompson and another male, Julian Williams, as passengers. Monroe County Cpl. Jaleel Brown ran the car's tags, only to discover that its owner, Carswell, had multiple outstanding warrants out. (The report doesn't mention why the tags were run to begin with.) Brown is said to have attempted to make a traffic stop, at which point Carswell allegedly ignored the attempt and sped up.
The officer chased the Dodge Charger for around three miles, and was able to bring things to a halt without anyone getting injured, employing a PIT maneuver that caused Carswell to spinout and stop. Then things got even more complicated.
Upon searching the car, officers found marijuana therein, and Dralin Carswell was arrested on chargers of a DUI and fleeing from cops, on top of the outstanding warrants that already existed in Wilkinson County. The other male passenger, Julian Williams, was also arrested over outstanding warrants.
It would appear that officers were convinced that Honey Boo Boo wasn't at fault for anything that went down, as she avoided any and all penalties during the stop and arrests. Instead of joining the other two in custody, she was picked up later by her sister and fellow Here Comes Honey Boo Boo vet Pumpkin (real name Lauren Shannon Efird), according to TMZ.
Alana Thompson made positive headlines in 2022 after she spread the word about getting accepted into Georgia Military College well ahead of graduating high school, while also courting some criticisms for what some perceived to be a controversial relationship. She was 16 when she started dating Carswell, four years her senior. One can only imagine how getting arrested in this incident might have affect her current and future educational goals, but thankfully that's not something she'll need to worry about.
First breaking out on the reality show Toddlers & Tiaras, Honey Boo Boo rode a wild wave of fame from 2012-2014, when her titular show was cancelled over Mama June Shannon dating a registered sex offender at the time. She went on to compete in Dancing with the Stars: Juniors in 2018, and returned to TV competitions in 2021 as one-half of the Beach Ball in The Masked Singer Season 6, for which she sang alongside Mama June.
The family matriarch has spoken about her own daliances with drugs in the past, allegedly spending more than $150,000 on cocaine in a six-month stretch, ahead of a stint in rehab documented for Mama June: Road to Redemption.
