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Nic Cage Won't be Charged in Drunken New Orleans Arrest

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on May 09, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Taking a break from filming movies and living the high life, actor Nic Cage, drunk and belligerent, was arrested last month for getting into a loud and angry argument with his wife.

He needs to take some acting lessons if he was trying out for a title role as "drunken criminal," since the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office is now declining to charge him with any crimes.

Cage was arrested last month on charges of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace, and public drunkenness, reports Reuters. He had gotten into an argument with Alice Kim, his third wife.

"Apparently, he had mistaken the house of my neighbors for the other house up the block that he is actually renting. His wife was trying to persuade him from disturbing the elderly couple who do in fact live in that house," Peter Bennett, who lives close by, told ABC News.

During the argument, he pushed his wife and then punched a few cars. After police arrived on the scene, and after nearly getting into police car peacefully, Cage took off running towards the river, according to People Magazine. Police caught up with the actor as he was attempting to get into a cab. Cage was released on an $11,000 bond, posted by none other than reality star Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman.

Cage did not spend his short stint in jail slumming it in a drunk tank. According to a fellow inmate who was at the sheriff's office at the same time, "he was behind the counter with all the other officers," reports ABC News.

Kim, Cage's wife, declined to press charges and has denied that Cage abused her, according to ABC News.

In cases that involve spousal battery and domestic violence, it's often difficult to get a spouse to testify against their husband or wife. Prosecutors can proceed against the perpetrator even without the spouse's consent, though this can mean that the spouse will refuse to testify. A non-cooperating spouse in a domestic abuse case can turn into an adverse witness, or testify for their spouse against prosecutors.

Hopefully, the movie star has learned his lesson. Publicity that involves the words "Nic Cage," "drunk," "domestic abuse," and "battery" doesn't really get you far in Hollywood.

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