Puddle of Mudd Singer Wes Scantlin -- Cops EFFED ME UP During JetBlue Arrest

Puddle of Mudd singer Wes Scantlin tells TMZ, he was wrongfully arrested this week on board a JetBlue airplane -- insisting he did NOT get belligerent with a flight attendant -- and when cops cuffed him, they bruised him up in the process.

As we first reported, a JetBlue flight bound for L.A. made an emergency landing in Austin, TX Tuesday after Scantlin allegedly got in a heated drunken argument with a flight attendant.

But Wes -- who's finally back in L.A. after the JetBlue SNAFU -- tells us, he never got combative with anyone ... and he wasn't drunk either.

Wes says he was totally sober, just trying to order one beer, when a flight attendant copped an attitude with him. The situation spiraled out of control from there.

But Wes insists he's innocent, adding, "If a grown man cannot purchase a beer on a 5-hour flight from Boston to L.A., then I think the airlines are completely, COMPLETELY, losing their minds."

He says, "I was arrested for being sober on an airplane."

Wes then showed us two big bruises on his chest, claiming the arresting officers were responsible for the injuries ... "This is what they did to me."

Wes says cops didn't even test him to see if he was really drunk before arresting him for public intoxication.

Scantlin is due in court in Austin on October 3rd, when he's scheduled to be arraigned.

Austin PD Lieutenant Joseph Chacon tells TMZ, Scantlin was taken into custody without incident and no use of force occurred. Chacon says Scantlin has not made any complaints to the department about the arrest.