There's a New Sheriff in Town: Steven Seagal

Melissa Del Bosque, reporter for the Texas Observer Magazine, couldn’t have said it any better: “Is he a cop playing an actor, or an actor playing a cop?” The same actor that is famous for his over-the-top action hero flicks like Hard to Kill and Under Siege, Steven Seagal is now the newest border deputy in Hudspeth County in west Texas.

This news comes as no surprise for anyone who has followed the martial artists’ career as of late. His A&E show “Steven Seagal: Lawman” was cancelled last year due to murky sex allegations by his assistant. He then moved onto join an elite squad of border police in Phoenix. With Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Incredible Hulk star, Lou Ferrigno, Seagal and his team managed to commit the now famed “puppycide” incident.

The whole thing sounds like a scene out of one of his movies. During the raid, Seagal and his posse used explosives to enter the home of a man suspected of cock fighting, and then reportedly opened fire on the animals inside, killing hundreds of chickens and the family’s puppy in the fray.

Despite Seagal’s best intentions it seems the same over the top action schmaltz that made his movies the “they’re so bad that they’re good” hits now plagues him in his real life, where you just can’t go in guns a blazin’.

However, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West seems convinced. “It became clear to me that Mr. Seagal is not in this for his celebrity,” West said. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this all plays out. Now, Texas has another tool in its arsenal of defense against the 1200 miles of border with Mexico. And you can take that to the bank. To the blood bank.