Dralin Carswell, the 21-year-old boyfriend of Alana Thompson (better known as Honey Boo Boo), was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) on Tuesday evening after a 3-mile car chase. While Honey Boo Boo was in the car, she wasn’t charged with a crime and is being treated as a witness in the case.
Monroe County police officers ran the tag of the vehicle at a gas station when they learned that the owner of the Dodge Charger – Carswell – had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The police officer originally tried to perform a traffic stop, but Carswell led the police on a car chase that lasted roughly three miles.
The vehicle was eventually disabled after the police successfully completed a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver that resulted in Carswell’s vehicle spinning out of control. The other passenger – Julian Malik Divon Williams, 24 – was also arrested after learning he also had outstanding warrants.
While Honey Boo Boo isn’t facing any charges, her boyfriend, Dralin Carswell, has been charged with several crimes – including a DUI, fleeing, speeding, failing to maintain lanes, and following too closely. As for the 17-year-old reality sensation, she was picked up at the Monroe County Jail by her older sister.
Reports indicate that Carswell has been released from jail after a $25,000 bond was taken out. This isn’t his first run-in with the law, having been charged with statutory rape in 2019 – he was 18 at the time. At the time, he was accused of climbing through his 15-year-old girlfriend’s window and having sex with her.
The statutory rape charge – which occurred before he started dating Honey Boo Boo (she wasn’t the victim) – was ultimately dismissed after the 15-year-old admitted it was consensual. The dismissal came after completing a pretrial diversion program around the same time he started dating Honey Boo Boo.
Carswell and Honey Boo Boo started dating in 2021 and have been together ever since. He made his reality TV debut in 2022 after being invited to Honey Boo Boo’s 16th birthday party, which was filmed in 2021 and aired on Mama June: Road to Redemption. They’ve made several public appearances since.
Honey Boo Boo already receives a lot of criticism over her relationship with Dralin Carswell, and that backlash is only going to grow worse with his recent arrest. Up until now, most of the criticism is a direct result of the couple’s four-year age gap – especially since Honey Boo Boo is a minor at just 17 years old.
Despite the age difference, Honey Boo Boo’s family – including her sister (Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon) and mother (June Shannon) – approve of the relationship, as well as Carswell’s mother. According to Honey Boo Boo, a lot of people also criticize the relationship because they’re an interracial couple.
“She is getting a lot of hate because she’s in an interracial relationship, he is older. But at the end of the day, Alana’s not that 6-, 7-year-old child y’all fell in love with 11 years ago. Alana has grown up, she’s graduating high school next year, guys!” said June Shannon in an interview with TooFab in May 2022.
Honey Boo Boo has previously spoken about how Dralin Carswell is one of her only friends, citing her difficulty trusting other people who only hang out with her because of her social status. “I don’t trust nobody really, so I don’t have friends,” she explained in an interview with Teen Vogue in August 2021.
