Hayden Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson spent Saturday night in handcuffs outside a Greenville, S.C., bar after a wild altercation, then started screaming at cops that they leaked details of the late actress’s death.
Video circulating online shows Hickerson, 37, sitting on the wet pavement in a parking lot as officers surround him. Looking agitated and red-faced, he yells, “GPD leaked it when my girlfriend died!” His brother Zach can be heard identifying himself to police: “I’m his brother.”
The chaos started around 9:10 p.m. Saturday at Wild Wing Cafe on Woodruff Road. Greenville police were called for a reported assault inside the restaurant. Officers found the Hickerson brothers mixed up in a fight with other patrons.
Sources told TMZ the brothers had been drinking for hours. Brian walked up to the bar, got into an argument, then allegedly grabbed a stool and slung it backward. Separate footage shows him being lifted and carried out of the place as a bartender shouts, “Let him go!”
Brian was detained and later released without charges. Zach, described by police as “highly intoxicated,” started yelling profanities in public and was hauled off to the Greenville County Detention Center on a disorderly conduct charge.
The ugly scene comes just weeks after Panettiere, the “Heroes” and “Nashville” star, was found dead at 36 on Aug. 16 in a Greenville apartment where she had been staying with the brothers. They called 911. Zach later said Brian administered Narcan and they performed CPR, but she could not be revived. She was pronounced dead at the scene after going into cardiac arrest.
Authorities have said there were no immediate signs of foul play or trauma. An autopsy is complete, but the official cause of death is still pending toxicology results. The DEA has reportedly opened its own investigation.
Hickerson has a well-documented history with Panettiere. He pleaded no contest in 2021 to felony charges of injuring her and served jail time. The pair had an on-and-off relationship for years. He has not been named a suspect in her death.
Police have not confirmed any leak related to the investigation. Hickerson’s attorney has previously asked the public to let the probe play out and has not commented on Saturday’s bar incident.
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