Russell Brand arrested for damage done in iPhone snatch-and-hurl
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Russell Brand was spending a chunk of his Thursday with police in New Orleans, having turned himself in on an arrest warrant related to his alleged snatching of an iPhone from a photographer on Monday night.
The paparazzo involved said the comedian and actor got ticked off when the pap started taking pics of Brand with the phone, which was then wrestled away from its owner and hurled through the window of a nearby law firm, according to TMZ, which had pictures of an apparent exchange involving Brand, an iPhone and a guy in a car. Oh, yeah, and a broken window.
People from Brand’s camp reportedly contacted the guy who was inside the office when the window was broken, saying the ‘Arthur’ star would pay to replace the window.
Katy Perry’s ex justified the incident in his own way: ‘Since Steve Jobs died I cannot bear to see anyone use an iphone irreverently,’ he said Wednesday on Twitter, ‘what I did was a tribute to his memory.’
New Orleans police saw it differently and issued the warrant Thursday. The charge? Simple criminal damage to property, valued at $700.
Brand, who is in New Orleans filming a movie, turned himself in later on Thursday, TMZ said.
It’s not the first paparazzi-related arrest for Brand, who was nabbed in September 2010 on a battery charge after tangling with a photographer who allegedly tried to take an upskirt photo of then-fiancée Perry.
Chris Brown was accused in a similar situation last month in Miami, though an amateur photographer was involved: According to a police report, the singer grabbed an iPhone 4S from a female fan who’d taken a picture of him sitting in a Bentley right after he’d left a club.
Brown allegedly rolled up the car window and drove off with the phone. No warrants were issued at the time, though police said they were investigating further.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
