Scott Stapp's Domestic Violence Rap

The former Creed frontman was arrested Sunday at his Florida home and charged with felony assault stemming from a domestic violence row with his beauty queen wife

By Josh Grossberg May 21, 2007 7:31 PMTags

Scott Stapp has apparently fallen off the wagon and back on to the police blotter.

The former Creed frontman was arrested Sunday at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, and charged with felony assault stemming from a domestic violence row, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

According to a sheriff spokesman, Stapp returned to his residence about 8 a.m. after a long night of partying and was confronted by his wife, former Miss New York USA 2004 Jaclyn Nesheiwat, who began quizzing him on where he'd been. At that point, the Human Clay singer became defensive and the couple started arguing.

"He got angrier and allegedly threw a glass bottle of Orangina, almost hitting her in the right side of her face," sheriff spokesman Paul Miller tells E! Online. "She was in fear at that point that he might do something else, so that's when Palm Beach County deputies were called to the scene."

No one was injured in the incident. Miller said deputies corroborated Nesheiwat's account and that the 33-year-old rock star was "deceptive" when they questioned him about throwing the bottle.

Stapp was taken into custody and charged with one count of assault with intent to commit a felony. He was held overnight without bond at the Palm Beach County Jail before appearing in court this morning.

There, Judge Cory J. Ciklin reduced the charge to misdemeanor assault after determining the Orangina bottle was not a deadly weapon.

"The facts against him are weak. The judge saw that," the rocker's attorney, Robert Gershman, told the Associated Press.

Ciklin agreed to let Stapp free on "supervised release," meaning the musician must keep in contact with authorities, not consume any alcohol or illegal drugs and must submit to random drug testing.

Stapp is also temporarily barred from contacting Nesheiwat, though the judge did grant him access to a separate building at their expansive Florida estate so he can work on his music.

Speaking to the Palm Beach Post, the 25-year-old beauty queen said she and Stapp had been going through "a rough time."

Meanwhile, Stapp's label, Wind-up Records, released a statement asking the media to back off. "This is a private matter between the members of the Stapp family, and we would hope that their privacy is respected. Scott and Jaclyn are both well, and any further relevant information will be forthcoming at the appropriate time."

Stapp and Nesheiwat swapped vows in February 2006. In January 2007, they welcomed their first child, daughter Milán Hayat Stapp.

Stapp's battles with the bottle have landed him in hot water before.

Only hours after his nuptials, the Grammy winner was busted for public intoxication in Los Angeles as the couple were en route to their Hawaiian honeymoon.

When airline personnel deemed him "antagonistic" and "boisterous," Stapp requested a blood-alcohol test, which then registered 0.18—twice the legal limit. He was booked and released on $250 bail, but a month later L.A. prosecutors declined to press the case.

Three months earlier, Stapp got into a barroom brawl with members of the band 311 in a Baltimore hotel. While no charges were filed, Stapp told Rolling Stone the dustup prompted him to enter rehab.

Stapp also made headlines in a series of legal battles over a video showing his and Kid Rock's sexcapades during a 1999 tour. Stapp and Kid eventually got World Wide Red Light District to halt distribution of the X-rated romp, and a lawsuit filed against Stapp by one of the groupies on the tape was ultimately dismissed.