Actor gets into bar fight
2008-12-06 14:26
Sioux Falls, South Dakota - British football star turned tough-guy Hollywood actor Vinnie Jones was hospitalised and arrested on Friday after he got into a bar fight over his role in the film X-Men.
Witnesses said the fight began when Jones tried to join a game of pool in the small town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Jones took offence when one of the men identified him as Juggernaut from X-Men: The Last Stand which he apparently took as a slight against his more significant roles.
"He started pushing my other friends around," said Juan Barrera, 24, who sat nearby while his roommates played pool.
"He said he's been in so many other movies or whatever."
Police said Jones charged at a local patron, 24-year-old Jesse Bickett, who then hit Jones in the face with a beer glass.
His face bloodied, Jones was walking to the restroom to clean up when he saw Barrera and punched him in the face, Barrera told AFP.
Barrera said he hit Jones once or twice in the face before bar staff kicked him out.
Jones was treated for facial injuries at a local hospital where he was arrested for misdemeanour assault early on Friday morning, police said.
Formal charges have not been filed, and no court date has been set.
Police charged Bickett with felony aggravated assault, but his mother says it was self-defence.
"He's got major hospital bills hanging over his head," Deb Bickett said. "He (Jones) doesn't want to run into me."
After a football career in which he developed a brutal "hard man" reputation, Jones debuted as an actor in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. His other film credits include Snatch and Gone in Sixty Seconds.
His manager said Jones was vacationing in the area but declined to comment on the brawl.