Buffy The Vampire Slayer actor Nicholas Brendon has been arrested for domestic violence against his girlfriend. The 46-year-old – who played Xander Harris in all 145 episodes of the cult TV show, between 1996 and 2003 – was taken into custody on 12 October in Palm Springs for allegedly violating a protective order, according to E! News. He is accused of pulling the woman's hair and her arm during a heated argument in a hotel, and was subsequently arrested when a hotel employee called the police.
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Sgt William Hutchinson of the Palm Springs Police Department confirmed to the Desert Sun that the unnamed woman has active protective orders against the actor in both New York and Florida. According to the orders, he is allowed to be near her, but must not threaten, harass, injure or assault her in any way.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor Nicholas Brendon has been arrested for domestic violence
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This is not Nicholas's first run-in with the law. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour charge when he was accused of choking his girlfriend in a hotel room - one of four arrests in total that year. He has entered rehab on two separate occasions to treat substance abuse, depression and alcohol addiction. Later in 2015, he appeared on the Dr. Phil Show to discuss his demons, and said that drinking alcohol "initially quelled the anxiety, definitely, but then it just adds to the anger". Nicholas is scheduled to appear in court on 28 November.