Gary Coleman Sentenced for Fan Abuse
Former Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman was sentenced to 90 days in jail Thursday after pleading no contest to slugging an autograph-seeking fan.
After spending the day on the witness stand, Coleman, 30, abruptly--and tearfully--copped a plea, ending his assault and battery trial.
An Inglewood, California, judge immediately suspended the jail sentence, but ordered the erstwhile Arnold Jackson to 52 anger management classes. Coleman will spend a year on probation and must also pay a $400 fine. He faced a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Coleman, now a mall security guard, managed to keep his license to practice--he could have lost that if convicted for the autograph-request-gone-wrong.
The former kid star was shopping for a bulletproof vest last summer when he was approached by bus driver Tracy Fields. After signing his name for her, Fields asked for a personalized message. That sent apparently Coleman into a tizzy--as one witness testified Wednesday,"He jumped up and socked her in the face."
Today, Coleman said he was merely trying to escape from the 205-pound Fields. "I'm very small, very delicate, you know," he said. "I don't break easy, but I do break. And I was getting real scared, so I thought it's either fight or flee."
"After she bristled and got a little huffy and blocked my path, I decided, well, she looks like she wants to slap the taste out of my mouth," he said.
Fields claims she still suffers headaches and muscle spasms because of the beating and has filed a $1 million suit against Coleman
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