Shia LaBeouf surrenders to New Orleans police after new warrant adds third battery charge | Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf surrendered to New Orleans police on Friday after they issued a new arrest warrant to re-arrest him in connection with a case that previously left him facing two counts of battery.
The new arrest warrant increased the number of people the Transformers movie star is accused of assaulting to three. He turned himself into police ahead of a bail hearing on Saturday afternoon and then posted $5,000 bail to remain out of authorities’ custody while he awaits the outcome of the case.
Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana first reported the additional arrest warrant early Friday evening, citing multiple sources. The Guardian also independently confirmed the information with a criminal justice source with direct knowledge of the arrest warrant.
LaBeouf, 39, was first charged with two counts of simple battery on Feb. 17 after he was asked to leave after allegedly shouting homophobic slurs and punching multiple people at the R Bar in New Orleans’ Marigny neighborhood around 12:45 a.m.
He was released on his own recognizance after the initial arrest, meaning he did not have to post bail. Later that day — it was the Mardi Gras holiday — he was spotted on New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street.
The arrest warrant issued Friday also accuses LaBeouf of headbutting a third person. It was released a day after LaBeouf appeared in New Orleans criminal district court for a hearing on the initial charges.
Judge Simone Levine set bail for LaBeouf at $100,000 on Thursday and ordered him to submit to drug testing as well as enroll in substance abuse treatment.
LaBeouf took a drug and alcohol test at the courthouse.
Levine did not discuss the specific findings, but said the test result made him concerned that LaBeouf “did not take his alcohol addiction seriously.”
LaBeouf, identified in court records as a New Orleans resident, posted bail and quickly walked away from reporters after the hearing.
LaBeouf’s private defense attorney, Sarah Chervinsky, argued in a statement Saturday that “an ordinary person would not be required to post more than $100,000 in bond and be jailed twice for a misdemeanor incident.”
Chervinsky’s statement also included the following statements: “Just as he does not deserve preferential treatment, Mr. LaBeouf does not deserve to be treated harsher by the police and courts just because he is a public figure.”
