By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com

"Following an arduous 300 shows and an 18-month touring schedule that left him incredibly fatigued, Katt felt compelled to be with his family in an effort to deal with his stress. While doing so, he is under a doctor's care," his publicist Yvette Shearer said in a statement.

News broke this weekend in the Sumter, South Carolina newspaper The Item that Williams had undergone a psychiatric evaluation after exhibiting erratic behavior.

The incident in Sumter followed a series of missed gigs, an arrest on a gun charge in New York City and his bizarre no-show as host of the 'BET Hip-Hop Awards,' which was first reported here in the BV Buzz.

(Read: 'No So Funny: The Real Reason Katt Williams Isn't Hosting BET's Hip-Hop Awards')

The funnyman, who has appeared in films like 'First Sunday,' 'Friday After Next' and 'Norbit,' was apparently in Sumter to visit a relative.

Sumter Police Department Maj. Perry Herod said officers responded to a call in reference to suspicious behavior by the 35-year-old comedian last Friday morning after he attempted to check into the Mount Vernon Inn.

"Basically we just received a call in reference to a possible suspicious person, but that's the extent of the dealings we had with him," said Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson.

Patterson said Williams was trying to acquire a room at the motel when the properties clerk, Marion Donning, called at around 8:30 a.m. due to his strange attire: a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around his head.

After authorities determined no criminal activity had taken place the officers left.

"He asked for some directions, which he was given, and we departed," she said.

(Local affiliate WIS-10 has video of Williams at the hotel on their website. Watch it here: 'Comedian Katt Williams taken to hospital in Sumter.')

Following his encounter with the police, Williams then showed up at the office of Sumter attorney Garryl Deas.

The 'Pimp Chronicles' star came to inquire about the attorney's services, though Deas said he was not been hired to represent Williams.

During their initial exchange, Deas said Williams told him he felt the police were "attempting to violate his rights" and he was interested in retaining Deas' representation.

Williams also went on to talk about his entertainment career and revealed there were people who thought he was missing because he had failed to report to some engagements, Deas said.

The actor said there were even rumors he had perished in a plane crash, which Deas said was obviously not true.

"He was alive and in color in my office this morning," the attorney told the paper.

Deas said he talked with Williams until about 9:30 a.m. when the attorney had to leave for a court appearance. Williams asked if he could wait for Deas, and Deas told him he could, Deas said.

When Deas returned to his office at about 10:30 a.m., Williams was waiting for him. By this time, Deas said, Williams' behavior had changed.

"His demeanor was a little troubled," Deas said. He said the actor seemed "disoriented."

About that time, family or close friends of Williams arrived to try to take him to the hospital for mental evaluation, Deas said.

He said the family was seeking to have the actor committed. He was under the impression the family members were a teenaged daughter and the daughter's mother.

Williams, however, did not want to listen to their urging that he visit the hospital, Deas said.

"He just said that he doesn't trust anyone anymore," Deas said. He said he thought "everyone has turned against him. He wasn't really coherent."

By that point, the actor was "speaking gibberish," Deas said, though he declined to guess whether the actor was intoxicated.

Deas said the family was seeking an order from a probate judge to force him to be seen for a mental evaluation.

Sumter Probate Judge Dale Atkinson, however, said neither he nor any of his staff issued a pickup order for anyone by the name of Katt Williams.

Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said, however, that an order was issued by the probate court and that because his department becomes involved with these type of matters, his office was called.

Dennis said the call came in around noon and deputies arrived to transport Williams to the hospital.

Though he was vocal in his desire not to go, Williams was not physically aggressive.

She could not reveal whether Williams or his family had been in contact with them, but Kathleen Higgins, clinical director for Santee Wateree Mental Health Center , said in order for someone to be psychiatrically committed, one has to be assessed by a mental health worker, "and then a doctor has to sign the commitment papers."

Williams' rep said the comic, who also skipped a Nov. 4 appearance on the 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien,' has canceled his scheduled headlining gig at The Comedy Festival at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas on Nov. 22.

"As this is a private and personal matter, we hope the media will respect his family's request for privacy," his rep closed.