Alec Baldwin appeared briefly in court Monday and was arraigned on downgraded charges following an alleged parking spat in New York City earlier this month.
The 60-year-old actor said nothing as his attorney entered the “not guilty” plea to a misdemeanor charge of attempted assault in the third degree and one count of harassment in the second degree. He was accused of punching another man in the face over a parking spot outside a Manhattan apartment complex, according to the Associated Press. (RELATED: Trump Responds With Four Words After Hearing That Alec Baldwin Was Arrested)
Alec Baldwin speaks onstage at the Opening Night Film “The Public” Presented by Belvedere Vodka during the 33rd Santa Barbara International Film Festival at Arlington Theatre on January 31, 2018 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SBIFF)
Those charges were downgraded after the “Saturday Night Live” star was originally arrested Nov. 2 and charged with assault and harassment.
Baldwin’s attorney, Alan Abramson, told the court that a video of the incident between the “30 Rock” star and the 49-year-old driver would prove his client “never punched anyone,” The Daily Beast reported.
“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,” Abramson explained. “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.”
However, prosecutors stated that court papers show Baldwin told police officers that the other driver “stole my spot” and “I did push him.”
He was released without bail and is due back in court Jan. 23.
Alec Baldwin attends ‘The Seagull’ screening during 2018 Tribeca Film Festival at SVA Theatre on April 21, 2018 in New York City. (Photo credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images)
As previously reported, Baldwin called the allegations “false.”
“The assertion that I punched anyone over a parking spot is false,” the “SNL” actor tweeted following the arrest.
It is not the “Beetlejuice” star’s first run in with the law. In 2014, he was arrested after allegedly getting belligerent with cops who claimed he was bicycling on the wrong side of the road, according to the AP. In 2011, he was kicked off a plane after he allegedly refused to stop playing “Words With Friends” and turn off his phone by a flight attendant. In 1995, he was arrested after he allegedly punched a paparazzi photographer in Los Angeles.