Ricky Schroder will not be charged following his May 1 arrest on suspicion of domestic violence.
According to a charge evaluation worksheet from the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, the NYPD Blue star will not face charges for the incident, during which his girlfriend called 911, but then said she and Schroder were "just having an argument."
Schroder's girlfriend told the 911 operator that the actor had "punched her in the face." As the charge evaluation worksheet reports, "When deputies arrived at the scene, the victim refused to discuss the incident and would not allowed deputies to take photos of her. The on scene deputies described the victim as extremely uncooperative, under the influence of alcohol, and emitting alcohol from her breath and person. One deputy attempted to use his phone to take a video of the victim’s face. The video, which is approximately 30 seconds in length, does not show any real injury because the camera is moving quickly at different angles.”
"When the victim was interviewed the next day by the [investigating officers], she stated that [Schroder] had hit her accidentally. She relayed that she'd startled [Schroder], who was sleeping in bed and under the influence of alcohol and Ambien. When the suspect was startled by the victim, he flailed his arms and accidentally hit the victim," the document alleges.
The D.A. states that it would be difficult to prove this case because the victim was allegedly under the influence of alcohol during the incident. The document claims that the victim's initial perception of whether Schroder hit her purposefully or accidentally would be scrutinized based on her impairment from alcohol. Accordingly, the victim's statement on the following day (when she was not impaired) that Schroder struck her accidentally would give rise to a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the case has been declined for filing.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff told ET in a statement last month that a similar incident occurred between Schroder and the alleged victim at the same residence on April 2. A source told ET following Schroder's May 1 arrest that the actor had been struggling in recent years after his split from his ex-wife, Andrea, in September 2016. The two were married for 24 years and share four children together -- Holden, Luke, Cambrie and Faith.
"Ricky is a super talent and has been dealing with some issues for a long time," the source claimed. "During his married life, his wife truly helped him hold it together but the last couple of years since their split he hasn't been doing well. His nonstop partying has truly affected his everyday life, and his family wants nothing more than for him to get the help that he needs."
"After his first arrest [in April], he didn't see the severity of the situation," the source alleged. "When his girlfriend dropped the charges, he decided everything was back to 'normal.' He knows he is wrong but can't seem to change his behavior right now. ... He realizes that there is a problem but still won't make a change."
Reporting by Brendon Geoffrion.
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