Ugly Betty star arrested after ‘ripping hair out of woman’s scalp’ in bar brawl
He reportedly faces charges of battery and resisting an officer without violence.
Eric Mabius has been arrested for battery and appeared with a black eye in his mugshot.
The 53-year-old actor – best known for portraying fashion magazine editor Daniel Meade in comedy-drama series Ugly Betty – was detained on Thursday morning in Yulee, Florida.
There was an alleged altercation at a Nassau County bar in the early hours, when Mabius allegedly ‘knocked’ an intoxicated woman to the ground, as reported by TMZ.
According to an arrest record seen by the outlet and Fox News, Mabius pushed a female victim and ‘was pulling her hair ripping a handful from her scalp’.
Fox said that a statement from the arresting officer with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department reads: ‘The victim said this only took a few seconds but while she was on the ground Eric got on top of her and was pulling her hair ripping a handful of her hair from her scalp.
‘The victim then stated that this is when multiple people at the bar was able to pull both arrestees’ off of her.’
Mabius appeared to have a bruise and cut around his right eye (Picture: Nassau County Sheriff’s Office)Mabius, whose mugshot showed him with a bruised and cut right eye, faces two misdemeanour charges of battery and resisting an officer without violence.
The actor – who also starred in Hallmark series Signed, Sealed, Delivered and TV series Chicago Fire – was taken outside the bar.
The police officer claims the actor was ‘not following simple commands to just sit on the bench’.
The officer added: ‘At one point in time Eric tried to stand up and walk behind me while I was trying to finish investigating the incident.
Mabius is best known for his role in Ugly Betty (Picture: THA/Shutterstock)‘Several deputies had to escort him back to the bench and placed him under arrest for resisting without violence.’
The intoxicated woman was also arrested amid the altercation.
According to The Sun, a force spokesperson said: ‘Witnesses stated that after the bartender asked the female to leave multiple times, both Mabius and the woman began spitting on several patrons.
‘The situation escalated when Mabius allegedly pushed a female victim, knocking her to the ground and pulling out ‘fistfuls’ of her hair.’
They added: ‘Although the victim declines to press charges, both Mabius and the female were arrested for simple battery and resisting without violence.’
His most recent on screen credit came in 2023 (Picture: Adam Larkey/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)According to the outlet, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper commented: ‘This type of behaviour will not be tolerated in our community, regardless of celebrity status.
‘Our deputies quickly dealt with an uncooperative individual, and we’re thankful no one was seriously injured during this unfortunate incident.’
Mabius’ most recent role on screen was 2023’s Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up, while two years earlier he insisted there were talks of an Ugly Betty reunion of some kind.
‘There’s something being discussed, but I’m not at liberty to say,’ he told TV Tonight, insisting a comeback would be ‘more timely’.
‘We had an abrupt ending and I think that we all felt that we didn’t have enough time to finish telling the stories that needed to be told.
‘I think Ugly Betty was ahead of its time and I think that it would be more timely right now than ever.’
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