Judge scolds Shia LaBeouf and orders him to rehab after Mardi Gras arrest
The judge ordered the 39-year-old actor to submit to weekly drug tests.
A New Orleans judge has ordered Shia LaBeouf to return to drug and alcohol rehabilitation and set a 100,000-dollar (£74,000) bond after the film star was charged with two counts of battery over an alleged assault outside a bar during Mardi Gras.
LaBeouf, who appeared in court wearing a fleece jacket and jeans tucked into cowboy boots, was also admonished by the judge for allegedly yelling homophobic slurs while hitting multiple people near the French Quarter. The police report said LaBeouf dislocated one victim’s nose.
The judge ordered LaBeouf, 39, to submit to weekly drug tests, including one on the spot in the courthouse. He agreed and his lawyer said the test did not show illegal substances in his system.
Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Simone Levine called the episode earlier this month a concern for “the safety of this larger community, especially relative to a marginalised community that has gone through so much terror”, referring to the LGBT+ community.
“This defendant does not take his alcohol addiction seriously,” Judge Levine added. “This court does not believe he understands the level of seriousness when it comes to these allegations.”
LaBeouf posted bail and declined to comment to reporters. He has not yet formally entered a plea to the charges.
“No, I won’t say a word,” he said in a court hallway while returning from a drug and alcohol test before the judge’s order. “God bless you, leave me alone.”
Jeffrey Damnit, a local entertainer identified in the police report as Jeffrey Klein, previously told the Associated Press that LaBeouf repeatedly punched him and used homophobic slurs while threatening his life.
Mr Damnit said he believed LaBeouf had targeted him because he was wearing make-up and eyeliner.
“This guy wants me to be dead because I wear make-up,” Mr Damnit said. “It’s a screwed-up thing.”
The judge said that when she originally released LaBeouf without bail within hours of his arrest on February 17 she had not previously had access to a police report that describes the actor allegedly using homophobic slurs as he returned to a bar and hit people with a closed fist after being asked to leave.
Videos of the altercations have surfaced showing LaBeouf striking multiple people.
After he was released from custody, the actor was seen in the French Quarter dancing in the streets on Mardi Gras.
Judge Levine ordered him to stay away from the victims and the bar where the episode occurred.
The judge denied a request by LaBeouf to travel to Rome in March for “religious observations, including his father’s baptism”.
Judge Levine said during the hearing that she was concerned whether LaBeouf “could handle his alcohol”.
LaBeouf’s lawyer Sarah Chervinsky told the judge: “Frankly, being drunk on Mardi Gras is not a crime.”
