Poor Alec Baldwin.
The Actor With The Terrible Temper (TAWTTT) appeared at a New York court on Monday morning, where he was formally charged with attempted assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree.
On November 2, Baldwin reportedly wanted to park his Cadillac Escalade in front of his Manhattan building, so he had a family member stand in an open spot, the New York Post reported. When a driver in a black Saab pulled into the spot, “Baldwin went ballistic on him, cops and witnesses said,” according to the Post.
“What do you think you’re doing!” Baldwin fumed, according to another witness, a construction worker who also declined to be named. “Alec was yelling ‘Shut the f–k up!’” the hardhat added.
And then there was punching, police said. “Yelling escalating to shoving, and finally the tantrum-throwing thespian, 60, belted the victim, 49, cops said.” Baldwin was arrested for misdemeanor assault, held for a while, then released.
On Monday, TAWTTT entered a plea of not guilty during his court appearance, where he did not speak. His lawyer said video of the alleged assault will vindicate Baldwin.
“There is incontrovertible video evidence that has been turned over to the district attorney’s office that proves beyond all doubt that Mr. Baldwin never punched anyone,” lawyer Alan Abramson said. “We’re confident that once this matter is fully investigated, it will be resolved swiftly and appropriately in court. …
“Mr. Baldwin did not commit any crime and we are confident that once this matter is fully investigated it will be resolved swiftly and appropriately in court,” he added.
But there’s more to the story.
“While the actor has maintained that he never punched anyone over the parking spot, prosecutors said he did tell a police officer that he pushed the man,” the Daily Mail reported.
“He’s an a**hole. He stole my spot. I did push him,” Baldwin allegedly said. …
Police were told a driver pulled into a Manhattan parking space that one of Baldwin’s relatives was holding for him, and the two men started quarreling and pushing each other.
Wojciech Cieszkowski told police that Baldwin punched or slapped him over the parking spot.
“I observed the defendant push me and then strike me across the left side of my face with his closed right hand, resulting in pain to my face,” Cieszkowski stated after the incident, according to court papers.
The 49-year-old man was taken to a hospital complaining of jaw pain and redness around his neck.
Fox News reported at the time that the New York Police Department said that Baldwin, who had no identification on him, “refused to [identify] himself, became belligerent, cursing and yelling. He was then placed in handcuffs.”
Baldwin went on a Twitter rant after that arrest, posting the arresting officer’s name and badge number. The actor tweeted that he was taken into custody while “photographers outside my home ONCE AGAIN terrified my daughter and nearly hit her with a camera. The police did nothing.”
He then added, “New York City is a mismanaged carnival of stupidity that is desperate for revenue and anxious to criminalize behavior once thought benign.”
After the alleged incident, Baldwin also took to Twitter to deny the allegations.
“The assertion that I punched anyone over a parking spot is false. I wanted to go on the record stating as much,” he wrote on Twitter, saying the “negative charges” were “clickbait entertainment.”
“Fortunately, no matter how reverberating the echos, it doesn’t make the statements true,” Baldwin wrote.