Actor Gary Coleman Arrested Again
Former Child Star Hasn't Paid Fines From Previous Charge
LOS ANGELES, Posted 4:43 p.m. July 16, 1999 -- Former child star Gary Coleman is once again facing charges stemming from an altercation last year with a female bus driver.
Coleman, 30, was arrested last Saturday in Monrovia, Calif. on an outstanding bench warrant issued for fines not paid after he pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace in February.
Hawthorne Police Lt. James McInerny told reporters officers at a DUI checkpoint cited Coleman for having expired license tags, then ran a "wants and warrants" search based on his driver's license.
Coleman was arrested at 1:40 a.m. for failure to pay $400 in fines plus penalties. He made his $26,000 bail about an hour after being booked, a wire service reports.
Municipal Court Judge Ulysses Burns also sentenced Coleman to 90 days in jail last winter, but immediately suspended the sentence and gave him one year of probation. Coleman was also ordered to take 52 anger management classes within a year or face 60 days in jail.
Coleman, star of the NBC sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" from 1978 to 1986, was accused of misdemeanor battery against a female bus driver who asked for his autograph inside a Hawthorne store.
The actor-turned-security guard became angry after Tracy Fields asked him to alter the autograph and he tore it up. Thinking she was going to attack him, Coleman began hitting the woman, he said in court.
According to testimony, the 4-foot-7 Coleman weighs 86 pounds and Fields is 5-foot-6 and 205 pounds.
Three other prosecution witnesses, including Fields, gave jurors a different version of what happened. By accepting the plea bargain, Coleman averted a possible jury conviction and sentencing of up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. He could have also lost his security license.
According to a wire service, Coleman is due in court Aug. 3 to explain why he has not paid the fines.
From Channel 2000's archives in L.A.:
- February 05, 1999: Gary Coleman Settles Battery Trial
- February 03, 1999: Gary Coleman Assault Trial Begins
- August 25, 1998: Gary Coleman Pleads Innocent To Assault
- August 03, 1998: Gary Coleman Sued Over Alleged Attack
- July 31, 1998: Actor Gary Coleman Surrenders To Police
- July 31, 1998: Actor Gary Coleman Sought In Assault
