"Cindrella Man" in cuffs
NEW YORK - Actor Russell Crowe has been charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon after throwing a telephone at a hotel employee, police and prosecutors said.
The Oscar-winner, who plays a boxer in his new movie "Cinderella Man," was arrested early on Monday and later released on his own recognisance after being taken in handcuffs to his arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court.
The assault charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, prosecutors said. The weapon charge is linked to Crowe's use of the phone, they added.
Police said the New Zealand-born Crowe, 41, got into an argument with the concierge at the Mercer Street Hotel shortly after 4am local time. Crowe was upset because he could not get a call through to his wife in Australia.
Police said Crowe threw a telephone at the concierge, identified by police as a 28-year-old man, who was hit in the face and suffered minor lacerations. The concierge was taken to hospital and released after treatment.
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