The Real-Life Legal Issues Of S.W.A.T. Star Shemar Moore, Explained

While Shemar Moore has collared his share of bad guys on "Criminal Minds" and "S.W.A.T.," he himself has fallen afoul of the law a few times — but was found to be at fault in only one of the incidents.

The first incident took place in Los Angeles in 2006. According to Fox News, Moore was arrested for driving 65 mph on a city street on June 1. The charges, filed June 22, were driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or above. The actor took a plea deal in July 2007 that boiled down to 36 months of probation, 80 hours of community service, and the choice of wearing an alcohol-monitoring bracelet. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of exhibition of speed, while a DUI count was dropped. Nonetheless, the court offered him the choice of wearing an alcohol-monitoring ankle brace, and he agreed to serve DUI-related conditions, including driving alcohol-free.

"I'm a serious and conscientious person by nature, but my one vice is driving fast, and it unfortunately took something like this for me to take stock and slow down," Moore said in a statement reprinted by Fox in July 2007.

Moore would face two more legal incidents over the years.

In 2009, Shemar Moore was involved in a bicycle and vehicle collision. He was struck from behind at high speeds by a vehicle allegedly driven by Phillip Randall, whom Moore would sue in 2011, according to TMZ. He accused Randall of failing to yield for him; Florence Rosenthal was named as a co-defendant, as she was the owner of the car. Moore suffered injuries from the vehicular accident, including a broken leg, and was forced to miss out on work. The end result: A lot of unpaid hospital bills, and earnings and post-stay bills to be paid. He sued for damages, to be determined in court, the cost of his bicycle. As of press time, the lawsuit does not seem to have been settled or gone to court.

The actor looked back on the incident while speaking to ABC News that same year. "A guy in a car just came and got a little too close to the bike lane and hit me at 40 miles an hour," Moore said. "Thank goodness we were going uphill." Per Moore, being hit that way exactly was enough to save his life. He admitted that the incident made him feel humble and appreciative of life.

However, Moore definitely didn't appreciate the guy who got him back on the legal blotter.

In 2016, Shemar Moore sued Keith Tisdell, an actor who appeared in two episodes of "Criminal Minds." Moore claimed Tisdell stole over $60,000 from him and demanded restitution, and reported in court that he and his fellow actor went into business together, per E! News. The business was a multiple sclerosis charity called Baby Girl LLC, which Moore started in tribute to his mother. All went well until an audit noted the charity's funds were short by a significant amount. Tisdell had been arrested for embezzlement in January 2016 but agreed to the charge of grand theft instead.

"In my mind, he wasn't man enough to look me in the eye and fess up," Moore told the judge. "I've done a lot for him because he had me, my friends fooled. I'm not here for money. I'm here because he betrayed a friendship. This is not OK. You don't do this to people." On August 11, Tisdell pleaded no contest to the charges. He agreed to a plea deal where he would be required to pay Moore $61,084 after the hearing or face imprisonment. With good behavior and the terms of the deal met, Tisdell might be able to have his record expunged.

Ironically, a post that Moore made on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the case wrapped caused fans to think a cryptic comment he might have made about the Tisdale case was actually about the exit of fellow "Criminal Minds" star Thomas Gibson from the series under murky circumstances. It's a series Moore would also leave before its run was up. 

The actor's kept his life free of court cases since then, likely much to his relief.