2:08 PM PT -- Miles just tweeted, "Went down to SD to see my buddy before he deployed. I wasn't arrested I was detained bc there was no evidence to charge me with a crime."

For the record, the San Diego PD tells TMZ Miles was arrested and booked for misdemeanor public intoxication. They also took a mug shot.

Miles Teller was arrested early Sunday morning after he was literally falling down drunk and refusing to cooperate with cops ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Teller was partying with a group of guys in San Diego when an officer noticed the actor was having trouble standing on the sidewalk. We're told the cop walked up to Miles and started questioning him, but he quickly became uncooperative.

Our sources say that's when Teller lost his balance and almost fell into a traffic lane. The cop cuffed him, and Miles had trouble standing in one spot.

Now the turning point. San Diego offers a detox program where cops will take someone who is drunk to a center run by volunteers. The center has cots where someone can stay for 4 hours and sleep it off. The cop offered to take Miles there but we're told he refused.

At that point Miles could have been arrested, but cops still took him to the detox center ... hoping he'd cooperate. That didn't happen. We're told he refused to follow directions so the staff rejected him.

At that point, Miles was arrested for being drunk in public ... a misdemeanor. He was in jail for around 4 hours and he was released without bail.