Justin Bieber’s Bodyguard, Driver Arrested In ATL Over Camera Theft: Panda Bear Strangeness

Justin Bieber’s bodyguard and driver were arrested and charged in Sandy Springs, Atlanta, on Tuesday with stealing a photographer’s camera.

The 19-year-old has returned to Atlanta, Georgia, reportedly to record a new album and escape the paparazzi-dense goldfish bowl of Los Angeles following a number of criminal charges.

According to Atlanta Journal Constitution, Bieber and his crew were at the Funhouse on Roswell Road which the teen singer rented out when the incident happened, according to Capt. Steve Rose a spokesman with Sandy Springs police.

The photographer was waiting outside the suburban Atlantan arcade for Bieber to emerge when one of his bodyguards confronted the snapper, says Rose.

CNN reports, the photographer left and was followed by the bodyguard and another man driving a Cadillac Escalade, the spokesman said.

The men caught up with the photogs car in an adjacent parking lot. The security guard then took the camera from the lensman and drove off the home Bieber is currently renting in Sandy Springs, Rose recalled.

That home is Atlanta record producer Dallas Auston’s uniquely-designed spaceship-home which Bieber is staying in which he allegedly looks for a property to buy. Police caught up with the Escalade at Austin’s home.

But a police officer stopped the bodyguard and the driver in the driveway of the home, saw the camera then arrested both men.

They men have since been identified by police as 32-year-old guard, Hugo Hesny, and 49-year-old Terrance Johnson, the driver.

Both face felony theft charges for the camera, estimated to be worth $10,000.

The camera was recovered and Hesny and Johnson were later booked and charged at Fulton County jail.

According to TMZ , police removed and searched two backpacks from the Escalade but no contraband was found. The Escalade was reportedly later towed from Austin’s home by police arrangement.

Today @justinbieber randomly visited the Atlanta Zoo taking pictures with fans. http://t.co/78zmhqnwkE pic.twitter.com/9PIWqdPIvh

— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) February 25, 2014

Bieber’s bodyguards have been in hot water before over photographers and the singer is – in fact – set to be questioned over some of those alleged incidents in a video deposition over a battery and negligence lawsuit filed against the singer and Hesny by a paparazzo in a separate incident in Miami.

The lalest news follows a report by E! News that Bieber and about 10 to 15 pals partied at Tongue & Groove ‘s Vice Mondays night in Atlanta for a birthday party, without incident. A source told the outlet was “well behaved.”

The singer is thought to be looking to make a fresh start in Atlanta and recently posted an enigmatic Instagram photo while at the local zoo, which read, “No more monkey business (sic).”

(Photo: Bieber and a fan at the zoo via Twitter)

Celebuzz reports Taylor Panter said her mother took her and her 10 and 11-year-old siblings to the Zoo that same day and says the star was talking to pandas.

“He came into the panda exhibit a little before closing and was acting very strangely my mom said,” Panter said. “He walked in and was talking to the panda like the panda was going to respond to him. He said stuff like, ‘I know you’ve listened to my music,’ and, ‘Wake up, panda I know you wanna take a picture with me.’ And continually having odd conversations with the panda.”

Another bystander, Hilary Sklar, who was on a school trip says she and her friends went to look for the teen star while at the zoo.

Sklar recalled, “He smelled like straight up pot and it was kind of uncomfortable. He started singing, or attempting to, when he saw us and I didn’t recognize him when I saw him. He held out his arms and sang ‘it’s me again.'”

“It was a very over powering smell. It was uncomfortable in the sense where none of us were his fans and we just went to say we did,” she added.

(Photo: Hillary Sklar and Bieber at the zoo via Twitter)

Bieber and his crew reportedly didn’t ask for special treatment and there was no trouble.

Reports of the singer’s generosity at Andretti Indoor Carting and Games, where he and his crew raced cars, rope climbed and went rock climbing the day before also surfaced.

(Photo: Bieber and another fan at the zoo via Twitter.)

An employee named Scott Flood told Celebuzz ,

“They ordered all this food and already paid, but something came up and they had to go. He called us back and said they were sorry they had to leave, but to give all the food to the staff and those who were helping them.”

After almost a year of dramatic or bizarre incidents on and off his Believe tour, Bieber was arrested in Miami Beach on suspicion of DUI while allegedly drag racing last month. Days later he was hit with an assault charge in Toronto over an alleged December incident.

In addition, Bieber is likely to be anxiously awaiting news of whether the Los Angeles District Attorney will charge him over an egging of a neighbor’s home, of he is accused.

But he does give food away. And $3 million to victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

(Photo: Bieber at Atlanta Zoo via Twitter.)