Tylor Chase’s Hotel Room Meltdown Leaves Nickelodeon Co-Star Devastated

Here is the rough truth of it: Daniel Curtis Lee tried to help his old co-star Tylor Chase, and it went sideways in a way that leaves you feeling gutted about how hard this stuff is to fix. The viral video, the motel, the police, the family warnings — it is all here, and none of it is simple.

The viral video, the drive, and the motel

Lee — yes, Cookie from Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide — saw a TikTok in September showing Tylor Chase homeless in Riverside, disheveled, and confirming who he was. He got in his car in Los Angeles and went to find him.

Chase's mom had already put out a warning, per the Daily Mail: do not give him cash. It would likely make things worse. So money from concerned strangers was steered toward food, clothing, and basics instead.

Lee did what he could in the moment. He bought Chase a meal and paid for a motel room so he could get dry.

"I received a call from management. They are upset.. The door is left open. Why is there a microwave in the tub? The refrigerator is turned over... I just feel so devastated. I am at a loss."

That was Lee later, saying what the motel told him. He said the damage lined up with the family warnings and that quick, one-off help does not work without longer-term, professional care. He is not wrong.

Other people have tried too

Shaun Weiss — who rebuilt his own life after addiction — offered Chase a bed at a detox facility and a path into sustained treatment. And on Christmas Eve, fans found Chase out on the streets of Riverside in heavy rain and handed him a jacket and prayers. The short-term kindness keeps coming; the long-term change has not stuck.

What Tylor's father and the timeline tell us

Tylor Chase is 36 now and was a Nickelodeon face in the early 2000s, including Ned's. The September clip showed just how far things have fallen. His father, Joseph Mendez Jr., told the Daily Mail that his son's homelessness is rooted in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, compounded by substance use and a refusal to stay in treatment.

As Mendez put it: "He is a wonderful person when he is Tylor." The family has been searching for solutions for more than a decade. Things got worse after a 2015 diagnosis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They persuaded him into rehab in Georgia around 2021, but it did not last; he later stopped his meds and went back to using.

Chase returned to California to be near his mother, Paula Moisio. This week, reporters found him behind a 7-Eleven in Riverside, digging in dirt and wearing torn clothes. He denied having a mental illness while rattling off prescriptions he says he has had: Prozac, Adderall, Sudafed, Wellbutrin, Zoloft. Police say he refuses shelter. His father was blunt: the family keeps trying, but he has to accept help for anything to change.

Chase, for his part, told reporters he plans to head back to Georgia, saying: "I am not really active homeless at this time, I am thinking that I would like to go see my dad, relatively shortly, in the state of Georgia," and mentioned hopes for housing assistance.

What Riverside PD sees every week

Ryan Railsback of the Riverside Police Department told TMZ they know Chase well and make contact with him weekly. Their outreach unit repeatedly offers mental health services, addiction treatment, and temporary shelter. He turns it down. Officers describe him as cooperative and cordial, not combative. He knows the videos are out there and, reportedly, it does not faze him.

Quick snapshot

• September: Viral TikTok shows Tylor Chase homeless in Riverside; he confirms his identity.
• Lee drives from LA, buys him a meal, pays for a motel; later hears about room damage (door left open, microwave in tub, fridge flipped).
• Family warns that cash handouts make things worse; donations are redirected to essentials instead.
• Chase's father says diagnoses of schizophrenia and bipolar date to 2015; rehab attempt in Georgia around 2021 did not stick; he later stopped meds and resumed using.
• Christmas Eve: Fans see Chase in heavy rain in Riverside and give him a jacket.
• Riverside PD says they contact him weekly; he consistently declines services but remains calm and cooperative.

The part that is hard to hear

This is the worst kind of familiar: someone clearly in crisis, a family pushing for treatment, friends and former co-stars trying to help, police doing weekly check-ins — and still, nothing sustainable. Lee's motel attempt is basically a case study in how difficult this gets when long-term care is the only thing that might work and the person will not or cannot stick with it. It is heartbreaking and, for everyone involved, exhausting.