Tim Jones, one of the four singers/songwriters of the musical group Truth & Salvage Company, was shaken awake and ripped out of bed at the Marriott Hotel by Visalia Police while asleep in his hotel room. Jones was subsequently handcuffed, taken to jail and cited for trespassing and resisting arrest in his own hotel room.
Truth & Salvage Co. toured with The Black Crowes throughout 2009 and is currently on tour in support of their debut album scheduled for release May 25, 2010. While on a recent road trip to Visalia, California, the band finished their show at the Cellar Door and returned to the Marriott Hotel in Visalia at approximately 1 AM. Two Visalia Police officers and a Marriott security guard entered Jones’ room about an hour later and arrested Jones. According to sources close to the band, the Visalia Police officers unsuccessfully attempted to awake and arrest Walker Young, another Truth and Salvage singer who was sharing the room with Jones.
Instead of spending the night in his hotel room, Tim Jones spent the night in a Visalia jail cell. He was finally released at noon the following day.
Jones was set to be arraigned in the Tulare County Superior Court on March 9, 2010. Legal representatives of the band arrived at the courthouse to answer for Jones, only to find that the District Attorney’s office had not filed any charges against Jones at the time of the arraignment. To date, the Visalia Police have refused to release the police incident report to the Jordan Law Group; the Truth and Salvage legal team.
A source close to the band said, “It’s an abuse of authority for police and hotel security to enter a person’s hotel room without a warrant, wake them out of a sound sleep, cite them for trespassing and then haul them off to spend the night in jail.”
Jones did not have any outstanding warrants; he wasn’t suspected of, nor accused of, any crime prior to being violated by the Visalia Police and Marriott Security. He subsequently received medical treatment for injuries suffered during the arrest. Jones and his fellow band members, intend to aggressively pursue their legal rights.