Entertainment
Drag Race songwriter Lucian Piane was arrested and released hours before his death
Police reportedly arrested Lucian Piane at a Glendale hotel over a thrown water bottle and released him about five hours before he was fatally hit by a car.
Lucian Piane had a strange encounter with police only hours before he was killed, according to law enforcement sources.
The hotel incident
Sources say Glendale officers were called to an Embassy Suites on Sunday evening. Piane allegedly claimed a hotel manager was running a prostitution operation and then threw a water bottle at the man.
Police took him into custody on suspicion of assault at about 6:45 p.m. He reportedly told officers he was a writer living in Hollywood and said he did not use drugs.
One source said he seemed manic and talked at length without much focus. Sources add that he stayed cooperative the whole time.
Released before dawn
Piane was booked at 7:42 p.m. Officers cited him and let him go at 11:49 p.m. Roughly five hours after that he was dead.
He was hit by a car in Glendale early Monday. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later ruled the death an accident caused by blunt trauma.
A troubled few days
The weekend had already been rough. Glendale officers had already cited him on Saturday on suspicion of drug intoxication. He was due before a judge on Monday. Fans had also grown worried over a run of unsettling Instagram videos he posted in the days before he died, although he had marked more than a year sober just two months earlier.
Piane spent years on "RuPaul's Drag Race" as a songwriter and producer. He also sat on the judging panel from time to time and helped craft many of the show's best-known musical numbers.
