UPDATED: Vince Neil Charged With Battery in Las Vegas
Police in Las Vegas have charged Motley Crue's Vince Neil with misdemeanor battery for allegedly pulling a woman's hair. The incident, which took place late in the afternoon on Thursday (April 7), was followed by a scuffle with actor Nicolas Cage.
As reported by NBC News, Las Vegas police spokesman Michael Rodriguez said that the woman, whose name was not revealed by the police, approached Cage for an autograph inside the Aria Hotel. Neil "came up to her from behind and grabbed her by the hair." Cage then took Neil outside to try to calm him down, and the next few seconds were captured by a cell phone camera inside a car and published at TMZ. As onlookers gathered around them, Neil seems to attempt to lunge towards Cage, who grabs Neil and yells in his ear to "Stop this s--- now!" and a few other indecipherable words. The situation appeared to be diffused after that.
4/11 Update: According to TMZ, Neil denies dragging the woman to the ground, with sources "close to the Motley Crue frontman" saying instead that he was just trying to "push past her" because of her "very aggressive" behavior. However, law enforcement sources reportedly told TMZ that officers reviewed the casino's surveillance footage before issuing the citation for battery to the Motley Crue singer.
Further, according to the version of events presented by the sources close to Neil, the reason he was so agitated by the time of his actions in the original parking lot video (embedded above) was that he had been detained by hotel security for over an hour.
Although Neil has been charged with battery, he was not arrested. He faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail, if convicted. The article notes that Neil faced battery and disorderly conduct charges in 2011 after bruising his ex-girlfriend around the shoulder and yelling and her friends at a Las Vegas theater. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, resulting in a $1,000 fine and the dropping of the battery charge.
There has been no official statement from either Neil or Cage on the matter at this time.
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