Woody Harrelson got into a fight with a man he claimed was taking photos of him and his daughter, prompting a police investigation.
Officers were called to the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 6, after a report was made about an assault on the roof-deck, NBC Washington said. There, they found several people, including the 60-year-old actor and one of his three daughters.
Police said a man who appeared to be intoxicated had taken photos of Harrelson and his daughter, after which the actor allegedly approached the person and told him to stop and to delete the pics, the outlet reported. According to a police report obtained by E! News, Harrelson stated he got into a verbal dispute with the man, who then "lunged towards" the actor in an attempt to "grab his neck," and a witness told them the same. Harrelson told officers he punched the person "in his neck in defense of himself," the police report said.
Harrelson punched the man after he refused to stop photographing Harrelson and his daughter, police told NBC Washington, adding that based on witness accounts, it appears that the other man, not the actor, was the aggressor.
The man taking photos was questioned in his hotel room, NBC Washington reported, adding that an investigation is ongoing. The photographer's name will be released once he is charged, police told the outlet.
Harrelson declined to comment on the incident when reached by E! News.
In recent weeks, he has been filming the HBO series The White House Plumbers in Washington D.C. It is unclear which one of the actor's daughters accompanied him at the hotel. Harrelson is a father to Deni Harrelson, 28, Zoe Harrelson, 25, and Makani Harrelson, 15.
The Hunger Games actor has clashed with photographers before. In 1995, he got into a scuffle with two tabloid photographers, who he claimed stalked his family during a visit to Martha's Vineyard, The Tampa Bay Times reported. A federal jury later ordered the actor to pay one of the photogs more than $4,800, while the other, a cameraman who filmed the incident, was awarded just $2.
In 2008, a celebrity photographer sued Harrison for allegedly attacking him and breaking his video camera two years prior. In 2010, he and the actor reached a settlement and the case was dismissed.
In 2009, a paparazzo accused actor Harrelson of assaulting him and damaging his video camera at LaGuardia Airport in New York. TMZ posted a video showing the photographer following the actor and one of his daughters, and later, the star appearing to reach for the lens. No charges were filed and no other legal action was taken.
"I wrapped a movie called Zombieland, in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character," Harrelson said in a statement in response to the incident. "With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie."
(E! and NBC Washington are part of the NBCUniversal family.)