Alec Baldwin punches Daily News photographer after obtaining marriage license in New York with fiancee Hilaria Thomas
'I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming,' says News lensman
JEFFERSON SIEGEL FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Alec Baldwin shoves Daily News photographer Marcus Santos after leaving the Marriage Bureau Tuesday morning.
Serial shutterbug smacker Alec Baldwin unleashed his fury on a Daily News photographer — and now he’s the focus of a criminal investigation.
A lensman for The News filed an assault complaint with the NYPD, charging the hot-headed “30 Rock” star punched him in the face Tuesday outside the city Marriage License Bureau.
A lensman for The News filed an assault complaint with the NYPD, charging the hot-headed “30 Rock” star punched him in the face Tuesday outside the city Marriage License Bureau.
LAWRENCE SCHWARTZWALD
Alec Baldwin covers up in a white bedspread from his midtown hotel as he strolls down Park ave. to his hotel Tuesday.
The groom-to-be went ballistic when photographer Marcus Santos snapped him outside the Worth St. office after Baldwin and fiancee Hilaria Thomas picked up their license in lower Manhattan about 9:30 a.m.
“He comes after me, starts shoving and punching me — one time, right in the chin,” said Santos, 42, adding that he was coming to the defense of another photographer. “And then he started shoving me, and pushing me. He lunged at me like raging bull.”
Baldwin was clearly losing it.
“He was like crazy, you know?” said witness Goren Veljic, a photographer who snaps wedding pictures outside the building. “There was an eruption of mad. I think something’s wrong with him.”
“He comes after me, starts shoving and punching me — one time, right in the chin,” said Santos, 42, adding that he was coming to the defense of another photographer. “And then he started shoving me, and pushing me. He lunged at me like raging bull.”
Baldwin was clearly losing it.
“He was like crazy, you know?” said witness Goren Veljic, a photographer who snaps wedding pictures outside the building. “There was an eruption of mad. I think something’s wrong with him.”
JEFFERSON SIEGEL FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Alec Baldwin shoves Daily News photographer Marcus Santos after leaving the Marriage Bureau on Tuesday morning.
An unrepentant Baldwin presented his version of the clash via Twitter: “A ‘photographer’ almost hit me in the face with his camera this morning.” Baldwin, in a hashtag, advocated waterboarding the two members of the media.
He later compared the incident to the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin: “I suppose if the offending paparazzi was wearing a hoodie and I shot him, it would all blow over.”
Baldwin approached Daily News photog Marcus Santos with an angry glare. (Jefferson Siegel/for New York Daily News)
He later compared the incident to the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin: “I suppose if the offending paparazzi was wearing a hoodie and I shot him, it would all blow over.”
Baldwin approached Daily News photog Marcus Santos with an angry glare. (Jefferson Siegel/for New York Daily News)Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, was stunned by Baldwin’s invocation of the killing of an unarmed teen.
“Rather than make light of a national racial tragedy, I suggest that if you don’t want to be recognized when you go out in public, it is you who should be wearing something over your head,” he said.
JEFFERSON SIEGEL FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Alec Baldwin shoves Daily News photographer Marcus Santos after leaving the Marriage Bureau Tuesday morning.
Baldwin was spotted late Tuesday afternoon near E. 62nd St. using a white sheet to shield his face, after leaving the Regency Hotel. In the evening, he made a scheduled appearance to keynote an American Heart Association event at the Grand Hyatt in midtown.
Larry King, of CNN fame, was at the New York City Heart Ball.
“Alec has always had a problem with photographers,” King said.
RELATED: ALEC BALDWIN KICKED OFF PLANE FOR PLAYING 'WORDS WITH FRIENDS'
For Mount Baldwin, it was his third explosion against a photographer. The actor had previously attacked photographers in California in 1995, and another in Manhattan in 2010.
The “Rock of Ages” star and Thomas picked up the license for their June 30 nuptials before her future spouse went after Santos.
“Alec has always had a problem with photographers,” King said.
RELATED: ALEC BALDWIN KICKED OFF PLANE FOR PLAYING 'WORDS WITH FRIENDS'
For Mount Baldwin, it was his third explosion against a photographer. The actor had previously attacked photographers in California in 1995, and another in Manhattan in 2010.
The “Rock of Ages” star and Thomas picked up the license for their June 30 nuptials before her future spouse went after Santos.
JEFFERSON SIEGEL FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Baldwin approaches Daily News photographer Jefferson Siegel before attacking Santos.
Santos was standing on the sidewalk with Veljic and another News photographer when the volatile Baldwin, 54, stomped their way with a maniacal glare.
“He said, ‘Stay away from me, or I’ll break your f------ teeth,’” recounted News photographer Jefferson Siegel. “Then he grabbed my camera lens, and tried to shove my camera to the ground.”
Santos said the photographers followed Baldwin’s snarled orders to step back, but it didn’t soothe the angry actor. Santos warned Baldwin to back off when the Emmy winner reached for Siegel.
“I said, ‘Don’t touch him,’” said Santos. “Then he came right after me. I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming.
“He said, ‘Stay away from me, or I’ll break your f------ teeth,’” recounted News photographer Jefferson Siegel. “Then he grabbed my camera lens, and tried to shove my camera to the ground.”
Santos said the photographers followed Baldwin’s snarled orders to step back, but it didn’t soothe the angry actor. Santos warned Baldwin to back off when the Emmy winner reached for Siegel.
“I said, ‘Don’t touch him,’” said Santos. “Then he came right after me. I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming.
JEFFERSON SIEGEL FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Hilaria Thomas kept a short distance behind Baldwin after leaving the Marriage Bureau.
Santos said the photographers followed Baldwin’s snarled orders to step back, but it didn’t soothe the angry actor. Santos warned Baldwin to back off when the Emmy winner reached for Siegel.
“I said, ‘Don’t touch him,’” said Santos. “Then he came right after me. I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming.
“I said, ‘Don’t touch him,’” said Santos. “Then he came right after me. I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming.
RELATED: '30 ROCK' STAR PROPOSES TO YOGA INSTRUCTOR HILARIA THOMAS
Santos, who started working for the Daily News two years ago, filed his complaint at the Fifth Precinct stationhouse. The photographer said the assault left him with pain in his chin, a headache and dizziness.
Baldwin, in a statement issued by his spokesman, insisted he was the victim of an overly aggressive Santos.
Santos, who started working for the Daily News two years ago, filed his complaint at the Fifth Precinct stationhouse. The photographer said the assault left him with pain in his chin, a headache and dizziness.
Baldwin, in a statement issued by his spokesman, insisted he was the victim of an overly aggressive Santos.
On ”The Charlie Rose Show” Tuesday night, Baldwin denied slugging the shooter. “I’m dumb but I’m not that dumb,” he said. “There were ten cops right there on the block.”
The actor added that people like the photographer “need to be deported to some island.”
The actor added that people like the photographer “need to be deported to some island.”
Cops notified the Manhattan district attorney’s office about the complaint and spoke to the actor’s attorney.
“Alec Baldwin is cooperating with the investigation,” said an NYPD spokesman. “Should we want him to come down, his attorney will bring him to us.”
“Alec Baldwin is cooperating with the investigation,” said an NYPD spokesman. “Should we want him to come down, his attorney will bring him to us.”
Baldwin, whose marriage to Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger ended in a bitter divorce, had seemingly found serenity with his much-younger yoga instructor.
But his notoriously nasty side surfaced on the otherwise happy occasion. After his latest flareup, Baldwin stormed away from the stunned photographers while carrying a fistful of paper in his hand.
Thomas, 28, was walking silently behind Baldwin when her husband-to-be allegedly threw the punch.
But his notoriously nasty side surfaced on the otherwise happy occasion. After his latest flareup, Baldwin stormed away from the stunned photographers while carrying a fistful of paper in his hand.
Thomas, 28, was walking silently behind Baldwin when her husband-to-be allegedly threw the punch.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Baldwin spokesman Matthew Hiltzik blamed the photographer, claiming Santos became upset when a passerby blocked his shot of Baldwin and Thomas walking.
“The photographer was clearly frustrated, pushed past the bystander and assaulted Alec with his camera,” the statement continued. “There were no punches thrown, and any subsequent physical contact was simply Alec protecting himself.”
Veljic echoed the photographers’ claims that they were hardly in Baldwin’s face before the enraged actor launched his missiles.
“They were away from him,” said Veljic. “Then he starts running at them. Pushing, very angry, his hands up. You’re going to get a marriage license, you should be happy.
“What happened to this guy?”
With Janon Fisher
lmcshane@nydailynews.com
Veljic echoed the photographers’ claims that they were hardly in Baldwin’s face before the enraged actor launched his missiles.
“They were away from him,” said Veljic. “Then he starts running at them. Pushing, very angry, his hands up. You’re going to get a marriage license, you should be happy.
“What happened to this guy?”
With Janon Fisher
lmcshane@nydailynews.com
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