After an altercation at Los Angeles International Airport last night, police arrested former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson.
Billboard reports that Tomlinson and his girlfriend, Eleanor Calder, arrived at LAX after a flight from Jamaica with a layover in Las Vegas. Paparazzi immediately surrounded the couple when they were at baggage claim. Tomlinson and Calder did not have security with them.
According to TMZ, Tomlinson pulled a photographer's leg, which caused him to fall and hit his head on the ground.
After the altercation, airport security placed Tomlinson under citizen's arrest until the authorities arrived. He was then taken into custody by the Los Angeles Police Department and charged with simple battery. The charge is a misdemeanour.
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The Sydney Morning Herald adds that Tomlinson grabbed the wrist of a woman who was filming the incident. She suffered an injury to her eye and received treatment at the scene. "Yeah I’m going to press charges," she told The Sun. "The guy socked me. He’s going to go to jail. The guy just grabbed me and threw me to the floor, and he socked me, and that’s it."
According to The Sun, the LAPD arrested the photographer, as well. "He was actually smaller than me, but he got my leg and then I was off balance," the photographer told the magazine. "He lunged for the camera then he lifted up my leg, and then he hit me, and I hit my own head."
"The paparazzi provoked and caused the altercation that occurred with Louis at the airport this morning," Tomlinson's lawyer, Martin Singer, said in a statement. "This is not the first or last time that a paparazzi has created an altercation with a celebrity. While the altercation was going on with the paparazzi, three other individuals were attacking his girlfriend during this incident and he came to her defence."
The Sun reports that the LAPD released Tomlinson on Saturday after he posted a $20,000 (£16,000) bail. However, Billboard reports that he was not required to pay bail. According to both publications, Tomlinson is set to appear in L.A. County court on the 29th of March. He could face a small fine and/or up to a year in jail.
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