'24' star Sutherland charged over head-butt claim

NEW YORK — Kiefer Sutherland was charged with misdemeanor assault Thursday for allegedly head-butting a fashion designer at a Manhattan nightclub.

The star of Fox television's "24" reported to a lower Manhattan police station in a Lincoln Town Car alongside his lawyers, but he did not speak to reporters.

Sutherland, 42, was interviewed by investigators, given a ticket, ordered to appear in court June 22 and released on his own recognizance. The minor charge is akin to a speeding ticket.

But the case could create another major legal hassle for Sutherland, who served 48 days in jail on a drunken-driving charge in California last year.

The designer, Jack McCollough of the high-end Proenza Schouler fashion house, claims Sutherland attacked him after an argument, leaving him with a cut on his face. The incident happened about 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Detectives were planning to question actress Brooke Shields as a witness because she was at the trendy SoHo nightspot SubMercer, in the basement of the Mercer Hotel, where the altercation took place. Drinks at the ultra-hip club cost around $15.

No decision has been made on whether the charge will affect Sutherland's probation for a drunken-driving conviction in Los Angeles, said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney.

Sutherland pleaded no contest to driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. He was sentenced to 30 days, in addition to 18 days for violating probation in a 2004 drunken-driving arrest.

Representatives for Sutherland, Shields and McCollough did not return several calls seeking comment.

Sutherland, who plays dashing federal counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer on "24," won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for best actor, and has been nominated multiple times for his work on the wildly popular show. His gritty portrayal of the counterterrorism agent has made Bauer an iconic character.

The current season _ the show's seventh _ finds Bauer scrambling through Washington to save the world from its latest bad day. Sutherland also has signed on for an eighth season. The show airs on Mondays.

___

Associated Press Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

Comments

[horsey]

10:09 PM on 05/08/2009

we'd all be cheering if it had been Limbaugh he did it to.

[SteveDenver]

06:09 PM on 05/08/2009

Sutherland is only 42? That softball-mitt complexion makes him look closer to 55.

Contrary to this report, the injury was a nose broken in 3 places, not a cut on the face.

[PuzzledinPeoria]

03:42 PM on 05/08/2009

Ha! A head butt from a butt head.

[SuperBucky]

02:55 PM on 05/08/2009

good. But can they charge him with bad acting too while their at it?! How about taking up too much room on the planet?

[flydoghead]

12:06 PM on 05/08/2009

I will say it again......Jack/Kiefer is out there defending America from the Designer/Terrorists
while you limp wristed ACLU types just want to read them their rights.

Why can't he just have a nice quiet social night out without being confronted by scarf designers who want to destroy everything that we hold dear ?

No wonder he drinks !! He has to do YOUR dirty work!

[Cogs]

11:25 AM on 05/08/2009

This guy is the classic example of someone with "Short Man Complex". He needs to prove himself by bullying others.

[ezbreezer]

11:21 AM on 05/08/2009

Drunk again? Well, he's Canadian, it's a religion. Usually, he's content to just drop his pants.

[Furby]

12:24 PM on 05/08/2009

If it's a Canadian religion, it's a better one than whatever it is Falwell is on. We drink because we need to maintain the anti-freeze levels in our bloodstreams. It gets cold up here :)

[ezbreezer]

12:49 PM on 05/08/2009

Or you can go down to the Caribbean in the winter -----------------and drink there.

[SteveDenver]

06:10 PM on 05/08/2009

Falwell's in the dirt, gone.

[littlepuffycloud]

11:04 AM on 05/08/2009

Keifer is still bitter about Julia Roberts dumping him for Jason Patric...

[rjmiller]

11:32 AM on 05/08/2009

Is she making her way through the cast of The Lost Boys?

[SteveDenver]

06:10 PM on 05/08/2009

that's funny

[yellowdoggie]

06:56 AM on 05/08/2009

See, Jack thought the guy was a terrorist and he was trying to defend America from a ticking bomb. We shouldn't press charges against the guy...he was just following orders...he thought what he was doing was legal...he read the brief...

[totalliberal]

06:28 AM on 05/08/2009

I was there. Kiefer stumbled and the other guy shoved his face in front of him to save him from falling. ;-)

[SteveDenver]

06:12 PM on 05/08/2009

Yeah, Jack caught Keifer by the forehead with his nose.

Keifer's just mad for having to go through life named after runny yogurt.

[AN2009]

01:05 AM on 05/08/2009

Kiefer Sutherland is letting 24's success get to his head. He seems to have forgotten that starting fights in real life gets you in trouble. This is the same genius who threw away his engagement to Julia Roberts for some stripper.

[CHIPKEEPER]

12:28 AM on 05/08/2009

"if" he did it i agree. if he didn't and this was some bs that was set up by this "highend" designer i never heard of than he should be in jail. this sounds fishy to me.

[thebirdstheword]

07:53 AM on 05/08/2009

except, the first spin is that kiefer was defending the honor of b shields. now it comes out that he was just a drunk arse with a litte too much liquid courage. with kiefer's history, it's not too hard to imagine what happened.

[Tyrione]

12:20 AM on 05/08/2009

Head butting is 4th degree assault. It's nothing like a speeding ticket. Even "unwanted touching" (a.k.a grabbing someone's wrist or touching them and they consider it unwanted in Washington State) is 4th degree assault.

This whole Domestic Violence umbrella needs to be readdressed. The nanny state is only creating more and more incidents that no longer address it's original intent--reducing domestic violence between domestic partners.

[SteveDenver]

06:14 PM on 05/08/2009

Where did you get that assault assignation? This wasn't a simple head-butt, this was first degree assault as a result of verbal exchange, resulting in bodily harm.

[ChillUpMyLeg]

12:16 AM on 05/08/2009

I don't give a flying toss who Keifer Sutherland is...If he assaulted this guy he should pay the price for it. End of story. If Keifer walked up and assaulted me after an argument, I would either defend myself by breaking one of his bones or simply call the police. Keifer is not nearly as tough as he thinks he is. Perhaps 120 days in jail will prove this fact. Its difficult to be tough when you are wearing lipstick and high heels after becoming somebody's bitc* in jail. Good luck, sir.

[The Ghost]

06:02 AM on 05/08/2009

Keifer Sutherland doesn't give a flying toss who ChillUpMyLeg is.

[thebirdstheword]

07:55 AM on 05/08/2009

but we all apparently wait on the ghost's opinion with baited breath?

[CHIPKEEPER]

11:55 PM on 05/07/2009

do you think he maybe is promoting his line in a down market and keifer was the perfect target. he has a bump on his nose. do you think that is worth $24 million