Dad-Daughter Swim Followed by Arrest : Allegation: Police charge Irv Krespi with spousal abuse after neighbor’s call. He and estranged wife call it a misunderstanding.

Terminal cancer patient Irv Krespi, who on Sunday completed an emotional, two-mile swim with his young daughter that captured national media attention, was arrested later that night on suspicion of spousal abuse, police said Tuesday.

Krespi, 61, who arranged Sunday’s swim from Balboa Pier to Newport Pier as a farewell present to 4-year-old Ariel Krespi, appeared on the syndicated “Hard Copy” television show, and ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “Home” shows.

Krespi and his estranged wife, Laurie, denied on Tuesday that any abuse took place and that the incident was a misunderstanding involving a neighbor.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Jerry Holloway said officers were called to Krespi’s apartment at 11:45 p.m. Sunday after a neighbor called complaining about loud noise.

“Officers arrived and could hear a woman screaming for help and a man yelling,” Holloway said.

Holloway said that officers took Irv Krespi into custody on suspicion of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant.

“You could clearly hear a female yelling for help and a male yelling obscenities and vulgarities,” said Holloway. “Two small children answered the door and officers continued to hear the female screaming for help.”

He said officers went into the apartment and had to separate Krespi from the woman.

Krespi was taken to Costa Mesa jail then transferred to Orange County Jail because of his medical condition. He spent the night in jail and was released on his own recognizance Monday afternoon.

Holloway said he could not identify the person who made the charge against Irv Krespi because the individual had asked that her name remain confidential. He did say, however, that the same person who made the charge was at the Costa Mesa Police Department on Tuesday evening and asked that the charges be dropped.

Holloway said it will be up to the Orange County district attorney’s office to decide if the case will be pursued.

Krespi, who interrupted a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon to watch himself and his daughter on the television show “Hard Copy,” said the charges are “absolutely untrue.”

“I’ve had fights in my life but I don’t fight with women,” he said. “When the police came, I got a little belligerent. I was mistakenly arrested because I wouldn’t put up with the crap of some young rookie cop who pushed me around and insulted me in front of my daughter.”

The couple, who have been married for 19 years, separated more than two years ago. Both said during an interview Tuesday night that the swim, and the eight weeks of training that preceded it, had brought them closer together.

A tearful Laurie Krespi, who was among the hundreds of spectators who watched Sunday’s swim, called the arrest “a big misunderstanding.”

“It’s upsetting the family,” she said. “We have been through so much. He never hit me. There’s nothing going on. We want to get together again and have a happy marriage.”

Irv Krespi said his arrest stems from a neighbor’s personal vendetta.

“It’s terrible,” he said. “When you’re in the limelight, you have to make sure you even blow your nose correctly. All of a sudden, my life is not my own. I have people trying to sell me cemetery plots. They want to sell me herbs or convert me to their religion.

“Something good is turning out to be a nightmare.”