Laguna Beach Boy Avoids the Slammer

Fri., Jun. 8, 2007 8:08 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

The county lockup isn't taking just anyone these days.

A Los Angeles judge refused Friday to revoke Jason Wahler's suspended sentence and send him to jail for 60 days for probation violation, saying that the 20-year-old Laguna Beach bum just needed to quit drinking, an L.A. City Attorney's Office spokesman confirmed to E! Online.

"You can't handle it," the judge told the underage reality-TV star.

But even though Wahler's free to check into the nearest Hilton, the Hills dweller must continue to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and spend 36 more hours in anger-management counseling in connection with his April arrest in Seattle for underage drinking and allegedly punching a hotel security guard.

Wahler was originally ordered to report for a two-month stint in L.A. County Jail on May 4 after pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery for drunkenly punching an area tow-truck driver and a city transportation worker last September—after unleashing a tirade of racial slurs at the two men, as well.

Upon learning that Wahler had checked into rehab, however, the judge suspended his sentence in order to allow the seemingly troubled lad some time to sober up. The legally challenged Beach boy was also sentenced to 36 months' probation, 104 AA meetings and 36 hours of anger-management classes. He was also ordered to perform community service at Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance.

His attempt to clean up his act—while only time will tell whether it was successful—obviously influenced the judge's decision today, although the jurist warned Wahler that, if he messed up again, he would immediately be ordered into custody.

L.A. prosecutors had been angling for some jail time for Wahler and had requested that the court punish him for the Seattle bust.

Outside the courthouse Friday, Wahler told tmz.com that his current mode of treatment is "straight-up rehab."

"This is it, no Promises. It's not relaxation," he said.

Meanwhile, the Seattle City Attorney's Office charged Wahler last month with assault, criminal trespass and underage drinking stemming from his Apr. 8 arrest—his fourth in less than a year—at the Waterfront Marriott Hotel for engaging in a fight in the lobby and then supposedly pushing and punching the security guard who approached to break it up.

According to authorities, Wahler left the hotel for a few hours, only to return and be discovered, by police, passed out in an upstairs hallway, reeking of alcohol.

He then proceeded to spew racial and anti-gay epithets at the arresting officer, police said.

Wahler is looking at a maximum 10 days in jail, a $4,500 fine and chemical dependency counseling if he's convicted on all three misdemeanor counts.

Last month, while Wahler was in rehab, a relative of his told People, "He's doing well, and he's going to be a new man."