Charlotte Ayanna, known for playing Ethan Hawke’s wife in Training Day, was arrested following a welfare check in West Hollywood. Authorities accused the actress of several acts during the October 8 incident, including allegedly spreading cremated human remains inside a residence.
Prosecutors later filed three misdemeanor charges against Ayanna. She has disputed the circumstances surrounding her arrest and called it “unfair” and “illegal.”
Charlotte Ayanna faces three misdemeanor charges stemming from a welfare check
Deputies responded to a request for a welfare check on October 8, according to law enforcement sources. During their investigation, a person at the residence accused Ayanna of threatening his life and battering him.
The same person also claimed that Ayanna spread cremated human remains throughout the home. Authorities further alleged that the actress kicked a deputy while officers investigated the situation.
Police initially arrested Ayanna on suspicion of criminal threats, elder abuse, battery on a peace officer, and depositing human remains outside a cemetery. However, prosecutors ultimately filed three misdemeanor counts on Monday.
Those charges included battery, elder or dependent adult abuse, and battery on a peace officer. The supplied source did not say prosecutors filed a charge related to the human ashes allegation.
Ayanna later challenged the arrest in a statement to TMZ.
“It was an unfair illegal false arrest,” she said. Ayanna also claimed authorities never read her rights or interviewed her about what happened.
“Not only was I never read my rights, including the Miranda rights, but I was never even interviewed to talk to,” she said.
The actress was being held on $50,000 bail at the time of the report.
Ayanna appeared in the 2001 crime drama Training Day, which starred Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. She also appeared opposite Adrien Brody in Love the Hard Way. Before her acting career, Ayanna won Miss Teen USA in 1993.
The criminal case now centers on the three misdemeanor counts filed by prosecutors. The allegations involving threats and cremated remains formed part of the reported incident but were not among those three filed charges.
