Brian Hickerson, the former boyfriend of Hayden Panettiere, was placed in handcuffs after a fight broke out at a bar in Greenville, South Carolina, on Saturday night.
According to footage obtained by TMZ, the 37-year-old shouted at officers while sitting handcuffed on a curb, accusing them of leaking information about Panettiere’s death.
The former actor had reportedly been drinking for several hours with his brother, Zach, at a rear table inside Wild Wing Cafe. He later left the table and approached the bar, the outlet reported.
Our News Outlet has contacted an attorney for Brian and Zach Hickerson seeking comment, but no response has been received.
Wearing a green hoodie and light-colored jeans, Hickerson was speaking with several people when the situation escalated. He allegedly grabbed a bar stool and threw it backward.
Video showed a large man wearing a red baseball cap lifting Hickerson and carrying him out of the bar as a bartender called out, “Let him go!”
Hayden Panettiere’s former boyfriend Brian Hickerson was handcuffed after a fight at a Greenville, South Carolina, bar Saturday night. Above, Hickerson and Panettiere pictured together in 2018
Hickerson, 37, reportedly accused police of leaking information about Panettiere’s death while he sat handcuffed on a curb, according to footage obtained by TMZ. Above, Panettiere at the Los Angeles premiere of Blonde in 2022
The confrontation continued outside the restaurant, where Hickerson and his brother were reportedly involved in a fight with several other people. Police arrived soon afterward.
A source told TMZ that Hickerson shouted at officers after being restrained: “GPD leaked it when my girlfriend died,” apparently referring to Panettiere’s death.
Hickerson was ultimately released without being arrested. Zach, however, was reportedly heavily intoxicated and shouting profanities, resulting in his arrest on a disorderly conduct charge.
Both brothers were reportedly at the Greenville condominium where Panettiere was pronounced dead at the age of 36.
According to the Greenville Police Department’s incident report, Zach told police that Hickerson was sleeping in a separate room of the Airbnb when he arrived and found the actress unresponsive in a chair.
Zach stated that Hickerson administered Narcan – a medication that reverses opioid overdoses – and that they performed CPR while communicating with 911 dispatchers.
Hickerson has since met with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) amid their investigation into the actress’ suspected overdose death, TMZ previously reported.
Local and federal investigators reportedly believe the actress was sold drugs that may have caused her death, and authorities are now focused on identifying the suspected dealer.
The one-time actor had been ‘drinking for hours’ with his brother Zach at the Wild Wing Cafe when he got into a heated argument with some other people and flung a bar stool behind him
Panettiere wrote about her volatile and often abusive relationship with Hickerson in her memoir that was published on May 19, just three months before she died of a suspected drug overdose
Hickerson was arrested and charged for domestic violence involving Panettiere multiple times. Above, Hickerson in a 2020 mug shot
Panettiere’s toxicology reports and official cause of death have not yet been released.
The Nashville star had a volatile and tumultuous on-and-off relationship with Hickerson beginning in 2018.
Hickerson was arrested and charged for domestic violence involving Panettiere multiple times.
In 2021, he pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend, resulting in jail time, probation, domestic violence classes, $500 in restitution, and a five-year protective order, per People.
Zach previously told TMZ: ‘There are a lot of assumptions, speculations and accusations currently swirling.
‘The truth will come out as the authorities complete and release additional details from the investigation. And that is important because the people who loved and adored Hayden deserve the truth.’
Zach described Panettiere as ‘one of the most precious individuals on this earth.’
He also argued that the star’s friends and family should be allowed to mourn her passing without any ‘additional noise.’
He added: ‘At this time, I want to clarify my involvement in effort to keep the focus on the fact that we lost one of the most precious individuals on this earth and to allow those that cared about her to mourn without additional noise, chaos, and misinformation being created and propagated by the media as well as the public.’
