Beloved ‘Home Improvement’ Star, 45, Arrested After Late-Night Traffic Stop

A beloved Home Improvement star was detained by authorities in Malibu, California, after a traffic stop, according to 4 Los Angeles on September 23. The media outlet reports that according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, 45, was the passenger in a car stopped by deputies.

4 Los Angeles reports that the car was pulled over at about 12:30 a.m. on Monday, September 21, near Westlake Boulevard and Townsgate Road.

Thomas was detained after he exited the vehicle, refused to return to remain in the vehicle, and was uncooperative with deputies. TMZ reports that according to their law enforcement sources, Thomas was “drunk in public and resisted.”

The Home Improvement actor was detained at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station and released shortly after his initial detention. 4 Los Angeles noted that according to jail records they reviewed, Thomas was booked on “suspicion of felony obstruction/resisting an executive officer.”

In addition, 4 Los Angeles shared, the driver of the vehicle Thomas was riding in was arrested on suspicion of DUI.

Entertainment Weekly shared that a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department relayed that the department will be releasing a press release regarding Thomas’ arrest but declined to provide any additional comment.

Thomas starred as Randy Taylor on Home Improvement from 1991 to 1998, leaving to pursue an education. He told People in 2013, “I’d been going nonstop since I was 8 years old. I wanted to go school, to travel and have a bit of a break.”

He attended Harvard, Columbia, and Scotland’s St. Andrew’s University. Thomas noted, “To sit in a big library amongst books and students, that was pretty cool. It was a novel experience for me.”

Thomas did some voice acting in the years after leaving Home Improvement. In addition, he also appeared in a couple of episodes of Last Man Standing, the show his TV dad, Tim Allen, did. Aside from that, for the most part, Thomas has stayed away from acting since leaving the series.

He told People he had “no regrets” about stepping away. “I never took the fame too seriously. It was a great period in my life, but it doesn’t define me.”

The former Home Improvement star is rarely spotted in public. Fans were thrilled when Thomas and one of his Home Improvement siblings, Taran Noah Smith (Mark Taylor), popped up in an Instagram post shared by their TV mom, Patricia Richardson (Jill Taylor) in July. The trio were all smiles and Richardson proudly wrote, “My other boys” in the caption.