‘Scandal’ actor Columbus Short charged with battery in bar attack
An actor on the hit TV show “Scandal” was arrested Wednesday after prosecutors charged him with felony battery with serious bodily injury for allegedly knocking out a man and breaking his nose.
Columbus Keith Short, 31, is accused of punching a man at a West Los Angeles restaurant March 15 and rendering him unconscious. Short allegedly sucker-punched the man after becoming involved in a disagreement, prosecutors allege.
Short was booked by Claremont police Wednesday and released on $50,000 bail soon after. Short, who plays one of character Olivia Pope’s crisis management experts, Harrison Wright, faces up to four years in prison if convicted of the felony charge.
The alleged attack occurred at Gabe’s Bar and Grill. Short, a onetime choreographer for Britney Spears, had in recent years built a career as a TV actor.
Short’s off-screen actions have repeatedly landed him in jail. He was arrested for drunk driving in July 2008, Los Angeles police records show.
He was arrested again July 19, 2010, for battery with great bodily injury and later for failing to appear on a court case. Short was convicted of disturbing the peace and placed on three years’ probation, court records show.
He was arrested and charged last month for battery on a former spouse at his former Woodland Hills home. He plead not guilty.
richard.winton@latimes.com
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