Actor Kiefer Sutherland was arrested on Monday, January 12th after allegedly assaulting a ride-share driver, according to the LAPD. NBC Los Angeles first reported the news of Sutherland’s arrest.
PEOPLE say that Sutherland, 59, was arrested shortly after midnight when officers responded to the scene near Sunset Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood. According to LAPD officer Kevin Terzes, “on January 12, around 12:15 a.m., officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a radio call regarding an assault involving a rideshare driver near Sunset Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. The investigation determined that the suspect, later identified as Kiefer Sutherland, entered a rideshare vehicle, physically assaulted the driver (the victim), and made criminal threats toward the victim.”
Sutherland was arrested at the scene for “Criminal Threats, in violation of California Penal Code section 422,” according to Terzes, who added that following the incident, the alleged victim “did not sustain any injuries requiring medical treatment at the scene.” Sutherland was booked into jail a little after 4 a.m. and was since released on $50,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 2.
A subsequent report from media outlet TMZ on Wednesday, January 14 say that Sutherland reportedly made death threats to the Uber driver before his arrest. The actor reportedly told authorities he was having dinner with a friend on Sunday, January 11, and rode in an Uber back to his home that evening when he told the driver to pull over and let him out. Sutherland reportedly said that the driver refused to let him out, and he went on to ask him two more times when the Uber driver called 911, claiming that Sutherland threatened to kill him if he didn’t pull over. The driver also alleged that Sutherland assaulted him with his hands. TMZ’s report also noted that there might have been a language barrier between Sutherland and the Uber driver; law enforcement sources shared that “when police arrived at the scene, the Uber driver — who spoke Russian or Armenian — requested a translator. LAPD then called someone who spoke his language.”
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