Brian Hickerson was visibly aggressive during an altercation with fellow bar patrons before he was handcuffed Saturday by police.
In video obtained by TMZ of the weekend scuffle, Hayden Panettiere’s ex boyfriend is seen flinging a bar stool backwards as multiple people yell at him to “stop.”
The scene then turns chaotic as people loudly yell at one another, and then later, Hickerson is seen arguing with a male before he’s forcefully picked up from behind by another male wearing a backwards red baseball hat and then carried further away in the room.
Brian is then seen being held back before he’s eventually dragged outside.
An eyewitness alleged to TMZ that Brian and his brother Zach were drinking at a table when a group of five middle-aged adults at another table heckled them over Panettiere’s death.
Zach then approached one of the men and got in his face, according to the eyewitness, which led to the chaotic scene.
A spokesperson for the Greenville Police Department tells Page Six that police responded to an alleged assault at Wild Wing Cafe Saturday at around 9:10 p.m. They located Brian and Zach, as well as other patrons involved in an alleged altercation.
While Brian was eventually released from the scene and not charged, officers claimed Zach was “highly intoxicated” and started yelling profanities. As a result, he was taken into custody for disorderly conduct and transported to the Greenville County Detention Center.
Brian was seen shouting about Panettiere in a video of him handcuffed and sitting on the ground posted on X, in which he yells, “GPD leaked it when my girlfriend died.”
Both Brian and Zach were present at the Airbnb in Greenville, South Carolina, where the “Heroes” alum died.
Zach claimed to TMZ last month that Brian gave the actress Narcan after the real estate agent woke up from a nap and found her unconscious, while he called emergency services. He said they jointly performed CPR on her, though she was pronounced dead on Aug. 16.
Brian broke his silence on Panettiere’s death through a statement from his attorney last month, but has since stayed silent.
“Hayden’s death remains under investigation and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed,” his attorney, Sloan Ellis, told Page Six.
“As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play,” the statement continued. “Out of respect for Hayden’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time.”
Panettiere’s estranged mom, Lesley Vogel, has spoken out against Brian, who was arrested multiple times for domestic violence against the late “Nashville” alum during their tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship that lasted eight years.
“I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments,” Vogel told NBC News in a statement last month. “And I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry — it is a struggle, and it’s a very challenging industry, and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.”
“This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death, and that was Brian Hickerson,” she added.
In a later statement, Vogel continued to blast Brian, though didn’t name him.
“Although my daughter and I were estranged, it was not for lack of care or love,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “It was due to the involvement of a toxic individual who I believe led to her death.”
She continued, “Hayden was a beautiful and talented young woman who unfortunately became involved with the wrong person, and although her family tried to extricate him from her life, we were unable to be successful.”
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