Randy Quaid, wife jailed briefly near L.A

Actor Randy Quaid is shown in this Santa Barbara County Sheriff booking mug shot released to Reuters April 27, 2010. Quaid and his wife Evi were jailed for a few hours on April 26, 2010 after missing several court dates related to a charge that they failed to pay a California hotel bill last year.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Randy Quaid and his wife Evi were jailed for a few hours on Monday after missing several court dates related to a charge that they failed to pay a California hotel bill last year.

Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department said Quaid and his wife were booked into the country's main jail on Monday after being remanded in custody during a court appearance earlier in the day.

A statement from the department said the Quaids were in court after missing several court dates on charges of defrauding an innkeeper, burglary and criminal conspiracy that date back to last September.

The actor and his wife, who have pleaded not guilty to the charges, were released after posting $100,000 bail and are due to reappear in court on Wednesday.

The Quaids have said the charge that they failed to pay a $10,000 hotel bill was the result of a series of mishaps and unfortunate events but this had led to them being mistreated by police and wrongly called criminals in the media.

The hotel in question, the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara County, has said the bill was now paid and the matter resolved in their view.

Quaid, 59, the older brother of fellow actor Dennis, has appeared in a long list of films but is best known for his roles in the "National Lampoon's Vacation" movies, "Kingpin" and the 2005 Oscar-winning "Brokeback Mountain."

(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)