Hayden Panettiere’s dad charged with assault

Hayden Panettiere’s dad charged with battery

Hayden Panettiere’s dad has been formally charged with misdemeanour battery after allegedly assaulting his wife last month.

The LA County District Attorney’s Office announced yesterday that Alan Panettiere, 49, will go to court on 11 October and, if convicted, he faces up to a year in jail.

According to People magazine, the Heroes star’s dad was arrested on 11 August at the family’s west Hollywood home after he ‘struck his wife [Lesley Vogel] one or two times on the cheek causing bruising with a closed fist,’ a sheriff’s spokesman said.

The couple had attended a charity dinner hosted by their daughter at Eva Longoria Parker’s LA restaurant, Beso.

But both Hayden and Alan have downplayed the incident. Shortly after he was released on bail, Alan told Extra the situation was a ‘misunderstanding’ and that ‘nothing actually happened’, while Hayden said: ‘It was blown way out of proportion by a sheriff who wanted his 15 minutes of fame.’