Smashing Pumpkins' D'arcy Wretzky Arrested for DUI, Jailed for Loose Horses

The former rock bassist was arrested this week near her hometown of South Haven, Michigan, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Apparently, the 42-year-old one-time rock star ran her 2002 Audi into a retaining wall in a Southern Michigan community just after 3 am on February 7. Prosecutors charged D'arcy Wretsky with first-offense drunken driving, a Michigan misdemeanor.

Although D'arcy Wretsky was uninjured in the accident, she was placed in handcuffs and taken to jail, based on an outstanding bench warrant for "Animals Running at Large." Local law enforcers indicated that her horses were found unattended in town in 2009 and that the rock musician (now turned hobby farmer and antique dealer) seemed to have missed four court appearances and ignored an assessed fine for the loose horse incident.

Neighbor Debra Beebe commented to reporters that she could not recall any time D'arcy Wretsky's horses became a public nuisance, adding that her own horses occasionally broke out of their enclosures as well. Beebe characterized Wretzky as a quiet neighbor, who simply cared for her horses.

Due for release from jail on Valentine's Day, D'arcy Wretsky will be on the County court docket for arraignment on the drunken driving charges on February 22.

Why did former bassist D'arcy Wretsky all but disappear in recent years?

Credited as bass player on the first handful of albums released by alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins in the late 1990s, D'arcy Wretsky left the band in 2000. She was replaced by Melissa Auf der Maur, who had played with Courtney Love in Hole.

Back in 2000, Cook County, Illinois, Judge Nicholas Ford dropped crack cocaine possession charges against D'arcy Wretsky, on the condition that she attend drug education classes for first-time offenders.

Since then D'arcy Wretsky has all but dropped out of sight, marrying a Chicago drummer named Kerry Brown, but later divorcing.

In July 2009, the reclusive rocker supposedly called radio host Ryan Mannoon-the-air for Chicago's Q101, staying on the line for more than five minutes. During the call, she mentioned that her ex-boyfriend (Wendell Green) had just died, and she praised the on-air singing of former Monkees star Davy Jones. D'arcy Wretsky also said she had been too busy fixing fences on her horse farm to circulate much and that her health was too poor for her to continuing pursuing a music career.

(Click here to hear the Q101 radio conversation.)

Wonder who's seeing to D'arcy Wretsky's horses, while she's in the clink. Hopefully, when she is released, the one-time rocker will find solace and healing in the company of her horses.