News anchor arrested for ‘dyke’ outburst
American news anchor Alycia Lane is the talk of the town, in a bad way, after being arrested for assaulting a female police officer this weekend.
Lane reportedly called the officer a “dyke,” verbally abused her and then punched the woman in the face.
The popular Philadelphia news anchor was arrested and later released on her own recognisance. Her lawyer insists Lane is innocent of all charges.
Lane was a popular search target on the internet earlier this year over photos of herself in a bikini she supposedly e-mailed to NFL Network host Rich Eislen, according to the National Ledger.
The photos were reportedly intercepted by Eislen’s wife, Suzy Shuster. Lane is divorced and was single at the time, but is now dating radio show host Chris Booker.
Lane, the evening news anchor on CBS affiliate KYW-TV in Philadelphia, was arrested on early Sunday morning in Manhattan after an altercation with a female police officer, according to the New York Times.
Lane and her boyfriend Chris Booker, and another unidentified couple were reportedly travelling in a taxi through Manhattan and became upset over a slow vehicle blocking their way.
Philly.com reports Lane confronted the passengers of the slow vehicle, which happened to be a group of police officers in plainclothes.
When one of the officers asked Lane, who was taking photos with her iPhone, to step back, the news anchor reportedly began verbally assaulting the officer.
According to Philadelphia Weekly, Lane screamed at the officer, saying “I don’t give a f*ck who you are, I am a reporter you f*cking dyke.”
Lane then punched the female officer in the face, according to the Associated Press, resulting in several lacerations and swelling. The officer was treated at a local hospital and released.
Lane was arrested on charges of felony assault of a police officer.
She pled not guilty to the charges and was released on Sunday. A court date is scheduled for April in the case, according to the AP.
David Smith, Lane’s lawyer, told the Daily News:
“She absolutely didn’t hit or make derogatory remarks to anyone. She was inside the taxi when the initial confrontation was going on.”
He added that Lane only exited the taxi to take a photograph and says her camera was violently grabbed from her.
She was shocked to learn after the fact that these people were plain-clothed police officers.”
Smith told the New York Post that Lane “absolutely never hit or made any derogatory comments to anyone.”
KYW-TV spokeswoman Joanne Calabria released a statement to the press saying management was “very concerned for Alycia… We are still trying to sort out exactly what happened.”
Philly.com reports Lane will not return to her KYW-TV news anchor position until at least 2008, according to a station representative.
Lane was reportedly already scheduled to go on vacation next week through the end of the year.
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