Gary Collins Out of Jail

Former "Hour Magazine" emcee released early Friday after serving four days

By Josh Grossberg Jan 18, 2008 6:56 PMTags

Gary Collins is a free man.

The erstwhile Hour Magazine emcee was released from Glendale City Jail early Friday after serving a four-day stint for drunken driving.

"He got out at 6:05 this morning," Glendale Police Department spokesman John Balian told E! Online.

Collins, 69, pleaded no contest in December to misdemeanor DUI charges stemming from an October arrest and was sentenced to 96 hours in the slammer of his choosing. He was also placed on four years' probation.

The Airport actor opted to pay $75 a day for doing his time in a 10-by-8-foot cell at the Glendale facility rather than be locked up for free in the hardcore Los Angeles County Jail, referred to as the Twin Towers.

No word whether Collins bumped into 24's Kiefer Sutherland, who's serving a 48-day sentence there for driving under the influence and is due to be released on Monday. Unlike Jack Bauer's alter ego, Collins was not considered a worker inmate and was not required to do laundry or kitchen duties.

Now that he's out, Collins will still have to finish 100 hours of community service and keep out of trouble for the remainder of his probation.

The tube personality got into this mess on Oct. 23, after an 89-year-old driver careened into oncoming traffic and plowed into Collins' vehicle, causing it to smash into two parked cars.

Collins failed a sobriety test and was booked on misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level above 0.08 percent. Two days after being released on $40,000 bail, he checked into a 60-day rehab facility.

The elderly man who triggered the crash died in December. However, since police determined the other motorist was at fault, Collins did not face any additional charges.