Former Disney Channel star Orlando Brown on Friday pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault charges in Ohio.
The “That’s So Raven” actor — who played Eddie Thomas, one of the titular character’s best friends — was arrested Thursday by Lima Police Department officials. He was arraigned Friday in Lima Municipal Court where he was charged with aggravated menacing, a first-degree misdemeanor assault charge in the state.
The 35-year-old is being held on a cash bond, according to court records. An attorney has not yet been appointed to represent him.
Police were called Thursday to a home on the 400 block of South Baxter Street in Lima, Ohio, just before 10 a.m. because of a fight in progress, according to Officer Rachel Torres, a spokesperson for Lima Police.
There was a verbal altercation that led officers to arrest Brown on suspicion of domestic violence involving imminent physical harm by threat of force, Torres said, but that charge was later downgraded in court.
It’s unclear who the home belonged to and whether the other person involved was related to Brown. TMZ reported that the other person had been identified as a man named Matthew who told police he was Brown’s brother. The site later said they were not blood relatives.
Matthew reportedly allowed the embattled actor to stay at a home he was renovating because Brown is unhoused and he didn’t want him to go to a shelter, TMZ reported.
Brown — whose other film and TV credits include “Major Payne,” “Family Matters” and “Two of a Kind” — has faced a spate of legal troubles over the last decade. In 2018 when he was arrested repeatedly and spent time in and out of jail. His various charges included DUI, burglary, drug possession, resisting a public officer and domestic battery.
The former child star’s latest arrest comes four years after friends of his staged an intervention-style interview with Dr. Phil McGraw.
