Troubled star was charged with reckless endangerment

Dec 27, 2014 09:56 GMT  ·  By

It’s been a while since Dustin Diamond, best known for his role as Screech on the hit teen series “Saved by the Bell,” made headlines, but the latest report comes to indicate that, though relatively quiet as of late, he’s still a very troubled man.

The actor has been arrested after he stabbed a man with a switchblade, in a bar fight that escaladed very quickly. He then took the weapon and left the scene of the crime, TMZ reports.

Star didn’t like the attention

According to eyewitnesses talking to the celebrity publication, Diamond and his wife were at bar in Wisconsin when he noticed that one of the men in there was taking his picture on his mobile phone. He clearly considered that a violation of his right to privacy, especially since the man had not asked for his permission beforehand, so the two got into a shouting match.

A video available on the site shows the commotion that broke right before the stabbing, when fellow patrons tried to get the two to calm down – only to notice that Diamond had taken out his switchblade with the clear intention of hurting the other man.

You can also hear a woman yelling panicked, “he’s got a knife!,” but no one seems to pay too much attention to her. Another woman is seen trying to talk reason into the star, attempting to calm him down.

Fleeing the scene of the crime

As per the report, this is when things really took a turn for the worse: the fight escalated and Diamond stabbed the man and then fled from the bar.

Some time later, police tracked him down: in the same car, they also found the bloody knife. Diamond was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and carrying a concealed weapon, while the wife was booked for disorderly conduct.

Diamond’s bail was set at $10,000 (€8,195), but as of the time of writing, he is still in police custody.

The bar owner confirmed for the police that the fight started over the photos the victim was trying to sneak of the actor. He also told them that it was Diamond who attacked first, though he would later claim self-defense, saying that the only reason he took out his switchblade was that he felt he and his wife were in serious danger.

Apparently, the man suffered “a 1/2 inch [1.27cm] wound under his armpit and bled heavily,” but he didn’t realize he’d been stabbed until moments later, long after Diamond and his wife had left the bar.

Diamond is yet to address the arrest publicly in any way, assuming he has any intention of doing that. After the hit series, his career took a nosedive and was surprisingly resurrected in 2006, when he released a home-made adult tape.

The tape made him into an Internet star, albeit a reviled one. He capitalized those 15 minutes of exposure through countless interviews and appearances, and even a book, but by 2010, he was facing foreclosure for the third time, having hit (financial) rock bottom again.

Apparently, his problems are far from over.

Dustin Diamond through the years (7 Images)

Dustin Diamond's latest mugshot, after he stabbed a man in a fight
Dustin Diamond as the quirky Screeche on "Saved by the Bell"Teenage Screech from "Saved by the Bell"
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