Haley Joel Osment Causes Scene at Ski Resort Before Arrest, on Video

Haley Joel Osment caused a stir at the chair lift before his arrest at California's Mammoth Mountain resort earlier this month -- and we have it on video.

Check it out ... "The Sixth Sense" star -- who's notably wearing his helmet backward -- is lined up and ready to pop a squat on the lift, but there's one thing missing -- his snowboard! Footage shows a female crew member trying to reason with him and remove him from the line, but he's insistent on getting up the mountain even without his board to bring him back down.

Haley's fellow skiers and snowboarders begin to grow impatient, with some even heckling him to get out of there. He ignores their demands ... but turns around and shrugs them off -- seemingly perplexed by their anger.

BTW ... this all happened after a resort guest encouraged him to get out of line by tugging on him, which caused them both to take a tumble, according to an eyewitness.

The actor must have been on a mission to get up Mammoth Mountain -- but his determination eventually diminished, and he removed himself from the line shortly after the crew member confirmed ski patrol was on their way to defuse the situation.

A clip of Haley finally walking out of the queue shows a slight smirk on his face ... and an eyewitness tells TMZ he strolled over to his snowboard and "fumbled around with it."

The bystander also says he absolutely reeked of alcohol.

As you know, the brother of actress Emily Osment was arrested at the California ski resort on April 8 for public intoxication and possession of a controlled substance. He was booked and quickly released ... and now it's up to the Mono County D.A. to decide whether or not to prosecute the case.

Mammoth Mountain declined to comment on his arrest.

Haley was also arrested back in 2006 for driving under the influence after he drove into a brick pillar. He pleaded no contest to DUI and one count of possession of marijuana.