Girlfriend Accuses Charlie Sheen of Assault

But Sheen pal says she started it with a head-butt

By Marcus Errico Dec 23, 1996 9:00 PMTags
So much for finding religion. About seven months ago, Charlie Sheen proclaimed himself a born-again Christian, telling the world he was renouncing hard-partying days that saw the actor tally a $50,000 tab with Heidi Fleiss' escort service. Sheen was back to his bad boy ways this weekend, police said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies arrested the 31-year-old actor at his Malibu Hills home Saturday morning after knocking down a woman reported to be his girlfriend during an argument, sheriff spokeswoman Carrie Stuart said.

The 24-year-old woman, whom police did not name, fled Sheen's house Friday afternoon after the incident. She went to a doctor's office, where she received seven stitches in her lip, Stuart said.

The woman then reported the attack to sheriff's deputies Friday evening. Deputies investigated, secured a search warrant and arrested Sheen for assault early the next morning. Sheen posted $20,000 bail and was released at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

While Sheen's publicist said the actor would not be making any statement regarding the incident, one of the actor's friends said the scuffle was the woman's fault. "She got upset and started arguing with him. She then tried to head-butt Charles, and he grabbed her. They started tussling and then they fell to the floor. That's how she got hurt," Cameron Johnson told the Los Angeles Times. Johnson, who claimed to be at Sheen's house at the time, said the woman had been dating Sheen.

He will be arraigned in a Malibu court on January 7.

Best known for his role in Platoon, Sheen has two movies coming out next year, Money Talks and Bad Day on the Block.