Actor Shia LaBeouf has been arrested once more in New Orleans, this time facing an additional misdemeanor charge of simple battery, court records reveal. The arrest stems from a February 17 incident outside the Royal Street Inn & R Bar near the French Quarter, during which LaBeouf allegedly assaulted several people.
Police reports and video footage show LaBeouf shirtless, shoving one individual to the ground and striking another, causing what may have been a dislocated nose. Witnesses say he used homophobic slurs during the altercation, which took place amid the city’s Mardi Gras celebrations.
Local entertainer Jeffrey Damnit, identified in police reports as Jeffrey Klein, said LaBeouf struck him multiple times, pushed him and issued threats. “He just got nuts,” Damnit told The Associated Press, describing how LaBeouf became increasingly aggressive despite attempts to calm him down.
LaBeouf’s lawyer, Sarah Chervinsky, confirmed that when authorities issued a new arrest warrant on Friday, the actor voluntarily surrendered to Orleans Parish jail. Chervinsky argued that LaBeouf has been treated more harshly than an ordinary person would for a single misdemeanor. “No regular person would be required to post over $100,000 in bonds and be jailed twice for one incident,” she said.
The actor has not yet entered a plea and declined to speak to reporters after a New Orleans court ordered him to return to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme earlier this week. Chervinsky maintained that “being drunk on Mardi Gras is not a crime.”
