Kevin Spacey Pulled Over for Speeding After Pleading Not Guilty to Sexual Assault in Court
Kevin Spacey had a minor run-in with law enforcement just hours after appearing in court on Monday, PEOPLE confirms.
The actor, 59, was pulled over for speeding near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority told PEOPLE.
Spacey, who was in the driver’s seat, was not given a ticket. The former House of Cards star, who has been recently staying at an apartment in Baltimore, was joined by his attorney, Alan Jackson, who was in the passenger’s seat.
“Kevin Spacey was given a verbal warning not to speed,” the spokesperson said.
TMZ, which was the first to report, obtained footage of Spacey, in a black Suburban Ford, getting pulled over by two officers.
Jackson did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Earlier that same day, Spacey appeared before a Massachusetts judge for the latest hearing in his sexual assault case stemming from an alleged 2016 incident against an 18-year-old man on Nantucket Island.
He did not enter a plea at the hearing but a not guilty plea was automatically entered on his behalf in accordance with Massachusetts law.
Spacey was ordered to stay away from the alleged victim, now 20, and the accuser’s family.
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The two-time Oscar winner’s presence in court Monday was mandatory after the judge rejected the 59-year-old Oscar winner’s recent request to have his appearance waived. Spacey’s request, which was filed by his legal team last week, argued that his “presence will amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with this case.”
The charge against Spacey was filed more than a year after former Boston TV news anchor Heather Unruh publicly accused Spacey of assaulting her son.
Spacey was charged with felony indecent assault and battery in connection with the alleged July 2016 incident inside a Nantucket restaurant and bar where the actor allegedly touched an 18-year-old man’s genitals against his wishes, according to the police report, obtained by PEOPLE.
Spacey’s accuser told authorities that he was “texting and Snapchatting” while Spacey allegedly reached down his pants and repeatedly touched his genitals over the course of three minutes, where the accuser worked as a busboy.
The accuser said he initially lied to Spacey by saying he was a 23-year-old college student and also told investigators that he was the one who approached Spacey, wanting a photo, and proceeded to drink heavily before the alleged assault took place sometime after midnight, reports in the case show.
Spacey’s alleged touching went on for about three minutes and that the alleged victim tried to move away and moved Spacey’s hands away, but that Spacey allegedly persisted, the report states. He said he left the establishment when Spacey went to the bathroom.
At a probable cause hearing in Nantucket District Court on Dec. 20, Spacey’s attorney said the accuser’s story had inconsistencies and even acted out the incident to illustrate his point, according to the audio of the hearing, which was first published by The Boston Globe.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Mitchell Garabedian, the civil attorney for the alleged victim, wrote, “By reporting the sexual assault, my client is a determined and encouraging voice for those victims not yet ready to report being sexually assaulted. My client is leading by example.”