Actor Villechaize Faces Misdemeanor Charges

Actor Herve Villechaize, who played Ricardo Montalban’s diminutive sidekick “Tattoo” on the television series “Fantasy Island,” will be charged with two misdemeanor weapons counts, the Burbank city attorney’s office announced Friday.

Villechaize, 42, will be arraigned in Burbank Municipal Court on May 29 on one count each of possession of a concealed weapon and possession of a loaded weapon in public, said Deputy City Prosecutor Terry Stevenson.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined Thursday to prosecute Villechaize on felony charges.

Villechaize was arrested Wednesday at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank after he began acting “disruptively” and officers spotted a .38-caliber handgun in a bag he was carrying, Burbank police said. Officers also smelled alcohol on his breath, police said.

He was arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen handgun, but an investigation determined that the gun was not stolen, Stevenson said.

Stevenson said the maximum penalty for each of the charges filed Friday is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. But he said prosecutors likely will not seek a jail term because Villechaize did not brandish the weapon.

Villechaize was released from jail Wednesday on $1,000 bail.