( CNN ) -- Jason Russell , director of a documentary about a notorious Ugandan warlord that went viral , does not have a drinking or drug problem , according to his family , after the filmmaker was seen running through the streets of San Diego in his underwear . Russell was picked up by police Thursday after several people reported a man running through the streets in his underwear , screaming , sources said . While San Diego police declined to provide the identity of the 33-year-old man , an official familiar with the case confirmed him to be Russell . Police said the man , who 911 callers said was interfering with traffic and acting irrationally , was not arrested and was transported to a local medical facility . Russell is one of the founders of the San Diego-based nonprofit group Invisible Children , which produced the half-hour film about warlord Joseph Kony . `` Kony 2012 '' skyrocketed to popularity on YouTube , propelled by thousands of posts on Twitter and Facebook , garnering nearly 80 million views since its March 5 release . `` Let us say upfront that Jason has never had a substance abuse or drinking problem , and this episode was n't caused by either of those things , '' the Russell family statement said . `` But yes , he did some irrational things brought on by extreme exhaustion and dehydration . On our end , the focus remains only on his health and protecting our family . '' The popularity of the film led to a flurry of media appearances for Russell and his fellow Invisible Children co-founders and prompted scrutiny from some who argued that the social media frenzy was too little , too late . Russell 's family said some of the criticism has affected the filmmaker . The group has said it hopes the film and other efforts will make Kony a household name and drum up international support to halt killings , rapes , abuses and abductions committed by his group , the Lord 's Resistance Army , in central Africa . Kony , who has operated in central Africa for two decades , is wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court . In October , the United States sent 100 combat-equipped troops on a mission to kill or capture Kony . `` We thought a few thousand people would see the film , but in less than a week , millions of people around the world saw it . While that attention was great for raising awareness about Joseph Kony , it also brought a lot of attention to Jasonâ€ ” and , because of how personal the film is , many of the attacks against it were also very personal , and Jason took them very hard , '' the statement said . Ben Keesey , the group 's chief executive , issued a statement Friday confirming that Russell was hospitalized for `` exhaustion , dehydration and malnutrition . '' `` The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us , Jason especially , and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday , '' Keesey said . CNN 's Rachel Wells contributed to this report .
NEW : `` Jason has never had a substance abuse or drinking problem , '' family says . Source : Jason Russell was picked up by police after running in the street in his underwear . He is now facing charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct for allegedly assaulting an officer during arrest. Russell has made a flurry of media appearances since the documentary went viral .