Amy O’Connell couldn’t believe what happened.
When O’Connell saw on Facebook that pop sensation Justin Drew Bieber was arrested Thursday in Miami Beach, she wasn’t convinced. But when she saw the reports that he faced charges of DUI, resisting arrest without violence and driving with an expired license proved to be true, the three-year Belieber’s skepticism grew into disappointment.
“Yeah, I have a Bieber problem,” the 22-year-old UF graduate student said. “It’s embarrassing being in college, but I am not ashamed.”
Days after the arrest, local fans and haters are still processing the news and speculating as to how the star fell so far.
Scott Wilson, UF assistant professor of jazz, said he thinks young artists like Bieber tend to crack under pressure.
“They can’t harness all that anxiety of performing for 80,000 people,” he said. “It would crush a normal person.”
Wilson said Bieber’s recent activities are “signs he’s not happy with his direction,” adding that the star has never won a Grammy.
“We’ll have to see what happens to him: how he changes, if he changes and if he just spirals down,” Wilson said.
On the night of his arrest, a Miami Beach Police officer pulled Bieber over at about 4 a.m. for racing a Lamborghini, according to the arrest report. The officer noticed his bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol on his breath.
“Why the f*** are you doing this?” Bieber asked police before they arrested him. He was released from jail later that day after meeting a $2,500 bond.
Tom Llinas, co-owner of Great Southern Music, is not a Belieber. But he isn’t a stranger to young artists. His teen daughter and son are both musicians, and he said about 500 students come into his shop every week for music lessons.
“I would say it’s kind of sad,” he said of the arrest. “The people around him are kind of letting him down.”
If Bieber were his son, Llinas said he would have a simple message for him: “Remember who you are. Remember where you came from. Remember that your family loves you more than anything.”
O’Connell also said family can help Bieber bounce back.
“We can always hope for the best, I suppose,” she said. “I’m hoping his mom will knock some sense into him.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/27/2014 under the headline "Never say never: Beliebers react to Justin’s arrest"]
