Whiplash star Miles Teller – who, depending on who you ask, is either the second coming of Robert Mitchum or the biggest douchebag since Mel Gibson – had a bit of a skirmish with San Diego police over the weekend.

According to TMZ, he was falling down drunk on a street corner and refused to cooperate with cops when they approached him.

Teller was partying with a group of guys in San Diego when an officer noticed the actor was having trouble standing on the sidewalk. We’re told the cop walked up to Miles and started questioning him, but he quickly became uncooperative.

Our sources say that’s when Teller lost his balance and almost fell into a traffic lane. The cop cuffed him, and Miles had trouble standing in one spot.

Now the turning point. San Diego offers a detox program where cops will take someone who is drunk to a center run by volunteers. The center has cots where someone can stay for 4 hours and sleep it off. The cop offered to take Miles there but we’re told he refused.

At that point Miles could have been arrested, but cops still took him to the detox center … hoping he’d cooperate. That didn’t happen. We’re told he refused to follow directions so the staff rejected him.

At that point, Miles was arrested for being drunk in public … a misdemeanor. He was in jail for around 4 hours and he was released without bail.

He seems like a handful, but then many great artists are. I guess the question then becomes…. would you with Miles?

(Photos: Pacific Coast News)