Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the former child star of Home Improvement, was detained by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in Westlake Village late Monday after a traffic stop escalated into a confrontation, according to booking records and law enforcement sources.
Thomas was released without formal charges after spending the night in custody. Officials confirmed that no criminal complaint was filed, and the incident was reclassified from an arrest to a detention, which will be removed from his record.
The 45-year-old actor was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by deputies shortly after midnight on Monday. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Thomas exited the vehicle despite instructions to remain inside, and was described as uncooperative and allegedly intoxicated. Deputies reported that he resisted their orders and obstructed their investigation into the driver, who was being detained on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Booking records from the Malibu/Lost Hills Station in Agoura Hills show Thomas was held on a felony-level charge with bail initially set at $0, a temporary classification used during intake before prosecutors evaluate the case. He was released Tuesday afternoon, and records indicate the incident was downgraded to a detention only.
A representative for Thomas did not respond to requests for comment from multiple outlets. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department also declined to provide additional details beyond the booking records.
Thomas rose to fame as the middle son, Randy Taylor, on the 1990s sitcom Home Improvement, which aired from 1991 to 1999. He also voiced the young Simba in Disney’s 1994 animated film The Lion King and starred in family films such as Man of the House and I’ll Be Home for Christmas. After stepping away from acting in the mid-2000s, he attended Harvard, Columbia, and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, later serving as a national board member of SAG-AFTRA since 2017.
The incident occurred shortly after Thomas reunited with former Home Improvement co-stars Patricia Richardson and Taran Noah Smith in a rare public photo shared by Richardson in August. The image marked Thomas’s first public appearance with the cast since 2023.