As Ted Williams rode the fast track of sudden fame last week following his discovery by a Columbus Dispatch reporter, many had the nagging thought that it was all happening too fast for the onetime homeless beggar with the “God-given gift of voice,” especially considering his admitted history with drinking and drugs. Now, less than 10 days after the Dispatch video featuring Williams went viral, he’s heading to rehab, and his future prospects are once again very much in doubt.

The first troubling note in what had been a completely heartwarming story came on Monday, with the news that Williams had been briefly detained by Los Angeles police following what was described as an altercation at a hotel with his daughter. After making the Eastern media rounds last week, Williams had gone to L.A. to do some more television.

One of those TV appearances was on the Dr. Phil show, where the host took a skeptical stance towards Williams. On the following day, Phil McGraw also spoke with members of Williams’s family, at which point the 29-year-old daughter Williams had been arguing with at the hotel said that her father, who had told the Dispatch he had been clean for two years, had been drinking a fifth of vodka every day since he had left the streets last week. Williams’s return to the bottle had been what they were fighting about, she said.

After McGraw confronted Williams about some of the erratic behavior he had exhibited since coming to Los Angeles (missing appointments and the like), an agreement was reached that Williams would go to a rehab facility in South Padre Island, Texas. Before that happens, though, Williams will be making a short trip back to Ohio at his insistence, which sounds like a recipe for more potential trouble.

The loss of the spotlight is probably what Williams needs right now — not an Entertainment Tonight “exclusive” of him saying goodbye to Los Angeles.