BUCK STOPS AT SCOTLAND YARD

R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck was arrested Saturday (4/21) for allegedly assaulting two crewmembers on an overnight flight from Seattle to London.

The crew on British Airways Flight 48 asked police to meet the plane when it landed at Heathrow Airport.

Buck, who was traveling first class, was kept in police custody at Heathrow for much of the day, Scotland Yard police said.

He was later charged with two counts of common assault, plus a public order offense, criminal damage, disobeying an aircraft commander and being drunk on an aircraft.

Buck will have to appear in Uxbridge Magistrates Court in London today (4/23) to answer the charges filed.

Industry watchers have noted that while R.E.M.’s "street cred" may see a minor spike because of the incident, it won’t do as much for the band’s career as a domestic felony.

"Now, if he had murdered someone on the plane or been murdered," one insider said, "we’d be talkin’ multi-Platinum sales."