Actor Wendell Pierce No Longer Giving Rutgers Speech After Arrest

TV news anchor Soledad O'Brien will speak at Wednesday's commencement instead

Actor Wendell Pierce has decided not to attend and speak at a graduation ceremony in New Jersey following his arrest in Atlanta. 

Rutgers University-Newark announced Monday that Pierce did not want to create a distraction. TV news anchor Soledad O'Brien will speak at Wednesday's commencement instead.

Atlanta police say in a newly released report that Pierce became upset by a conversation about politics, then followed a group of people to their hotel room, tried to get inside and hit a woman in the head.

In the report on the Saturday dispute at the Loews Atlanta Hotel, Pierce told police he was standing outside the hotel room when the woman and two of her friends tried to pull him inside. 

The woman and two witnesses listed in the police report didn't immediately respond to phone messages from The Associated Press.

Jail records show Pierce was charged with simple battery and released on $1,000 bond. Atlanta Police Department spokesman Donald Hannah says Pierce never indicated he was well-known and his arrest was treated like any other arrest.

Pierce is known for his TV roles as Detective William "Bunk" Moreland on "The Wire" and Antoine Batiste on "Treme."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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