Tarek El Moussa cited for battery
Tarek El Moussa has been cited for battery after allegedly getting involved in a physical altercation in Las Vegas.
Tarek El Moussa has been cited for battery.
The Flip or Flop star reportedly got into a physical altercation with a man at the Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas last week, but was not arrested over the incident.
An incident report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department seen by Entertainment Weekly noted Tarek was cited for battery after allegedly "pushing and using his right hand to punch" the man, whose name was redacted for privacy reasons, "in his head multiple times" on 5 June.
The 43-year-old HGTV personality claimed the incident occurred when he was defending his elderly father.
His attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in a statement, "Tarek intends to contest these allegations in a court of law where he will assert his right to self-defence and the defence of his elderly and infirmed father."
According to the incident report, when police arrived, the alleged victim claimed he had been sitting at a roulette table when a stranger approached him "aggressively and hit him", but he couldn't give details such as how he was hit or how many times, but stressed he wanted to press charges.
Tarek told cops the man had hit his dad on the back with his hand, so he got out of his chair to confront the guy and protect his father, who has back problems, but declined to say more without a lawyer present.
Surveillance footage obtained by police appeared to indicate that Tarek's dad, whose name was also redacted, was sitting at a roulette table with the man standing nearby. At one point, he could be seen getting upset and turning to glare at the stranger, and while it was unclear why he was unhappy, the report stated "it appeared that [redacted] could have potentially bumped into his chair."
Tarek's dad continued his game until the other man touched his right shoulder, when they exchanged words. When the reality star saw what was happening, he is said to have "charged at [redacted] and shoved him".
The report continued: "[Redacted] shoved him back, and they both took a fighting stance. Then [redacted] appeared to go for a takedown at the legs of El Moussa. Due to the angle of the footage it is not certain but appeared that when [redacted went for] the takedown, he was struck with the knee of El Moussa, then fell to the floor, and El Moussa mounted his back and threw three more strikes with his fist to the head of [redacted] before getting up and walking away."
The alleged victim had bruising beneath his right eye and a cut on the bridge of his nose.
