Alec Baldwin was taken into police custody in New York on Friday and charged with assault and harassment after allegedly punching a man in a fight over a parking spot in Manhattan. Baldwin has denied the charge and called the situation “egregiously misstated.”
A law enforcement source confirmed to Variety that Baldwin was taken into custody on Friday after a dispute with another adult man over a parking space in West Village. Baldwin is believed to have struck the other man, and was subsequently placed under arrest, while the victim was taken to a local hospital. Baldwin has since been released from custody.
In a statement via Twitter, Baldwin wrote: “The assertion that I punched anyone over a parking spot is false.”
1- Normally, I would not comment on something as egregiously misstated as today’s story.
However, the assertion that I punched anyone over a parking spot is false.
I wanted to go on the record stating as much.
I realize that it has become a sport to tag people w as many negative— HABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) November 2, 2018
2- negative charges and defaming allegations as possible for the purposes of clickbait entertainment.
Fortunately, no matter how reverberating the echos, it doesn’t make the statements true.
— HABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) November 2, 2018
Baldwin is currently recurring on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” as President Donald Trump. NBC had no comment on the arrest. He also has “Match Game” and talk show “The Alec Baldwin Show” on ABC. ABC said the latter will continue to air on Sundays as scheduled and had no further comment.
It’s not the first time Baldwin has run into trouble with the law. He was charged with battery, and later acquitted, in a case involving a photographer in the ’90s. He was arrested for disorderly conduct in 2014.
Baldwin was also photographed in an apparent public altercation with paparazzi in New York in 2013. A police report, however, was not filed in that case.
Trump, who has feuded with Baldwin in the past over the actor’s “SNL” impression, said “I wish him luck” when asked about the arrest by reporters on Friday afternoon, according to NBC.
Reps for Baldwin declined to comment on the arrest.