Police Arrest Actor in Stalking, Stabbing Case

Actor Mykelti Williamson, best known for his role as Bubba the shrimper in the movie “Forrest Gump,” was released on $180,000 bail Tuesday, hours after he was arrested on suspicion of stalking his ex-wife and stabbing her companion.

“This has all been a real big misunderstanding, and I will be vindicated,” Williamson said during a brief news conference. His current wife, Sandra, was by his side.

The 32-year-old stabbing victim, whose name was not released, was in critical condition on arrival at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center near Torrance on Monday night with wounds in his abdomen and on his hands, authorities said. After emergency surgery, his condition was listed as stable.

Williamson, 40, is suspected of stabbing the man during a confrontation outside the Baldwin Hills home of his ex-wife, Cheryl Chisolm, police said.

Chisolm told officers that Williamson, from whom she was divorced in 1992, had been seen near her residence earlier in the evening, LAPD spokesman Mike Partain said. Later, according to Chisolm, the actor followed her when she went to a store, authorities said, adding that Chisolm realized she was being followed and a brief argument ensued.

Chisolm had returned to her home in the 4600 block of Don Lorenzo Drive and was with her companion when he was stabbed in the stomach, possibly with a butcher knife, Los Angeles Police Det. Jeff Carnival said. At 9:02 p.m., paramedics were summoned to Chisolm’s house and found the wounded man lying in the street, authorities said.

Williamson was arrested a short time later at a residence in Ladera Heights about three miles away. He was booked late Monday night at the LAPD’s Southwest Division.