Deadliest Catch Star Arrested: Sig Hansen Taken Downtown After Ugly Confrontation With Uber Driver In Seattle
Deadliest Catch star Sig Hansen was arrested in Seattle last week following an ugly incident with an Uber driver, KCPQ (Seattle) is reporting.
Hansen, 51, and a few companions were in Seattle for Norwegian Independence Day last week. When the group called for an Uber to take them home, a dispute arose. According to TMZ, Hansen and his companions were in the driver’s vehicle when, somehow, the app cancelled the ride. Hansen offered to pay the driver $100 to complete the trip, but the driver declined, citing Uber’s rules. This apparently enraged Hansen and, according to police, kicked a dent in the driver’s car and spat at him.
When police checked out the Uber driver’s car, they found an approximately foot-sized dent in the car, as well as spit on the dashboard.
When police went to get Hansen’s side of the story, he was allegedly less than cooperative.
“Nope! So no, this is no! That means we’re done!”
Police say that the “obviously intoxicated” Hansen continued to argue, and it required two officers to pull him out of his home and cuff him.
Sig Hansen Arrested for Assault Allegedly Spit on Driver – https://t.co/paVQC1lBj4 https://t.co/k8oNfA1bYn pic.twitter.com/oeKQ2qFhPA
— Rita patel (@prita1681) May 19, 2017
Hansen was taken to jail and charged with assault. He was later released on $2,000 bond.
In a statement, Hansen owned up to his alleged wrongdoing.
“Regarding the altercation last night, I am terribly sorry for my behavior and am very embarrassed by it. I owe a bunch of people apologies, first and foremost to our Uber driver, who was just trying to get us home safely. I hope I can make that apology in person. I have no excuse, and accept responsibility for my actions.”
As of this writing, Hansen’s bosses over at The Discovery Channel have not yet commented on the incident.
Uber, for its part, is done with Hansen, who is now banned forever from using the company’s services.
“Violence will not be tolerated on the Uber app. We have been in contact with our driver partner, and the rider no longer has access to the app.”
‘Obviously Intoxicated’ Deadliest Catch Star Sig Hansen Cuffed for Alleged Uber Assault: Police https://t.co/sK8f9GZEaZ pic.twitter.com/RWxszy47c3
— Saba Shaikh (@sabashaikh331) May 18, 2017
This is not the first time Hansen has been in trouble with the law.
Hansen’s oldest daughter, Melissa Eckstrom, who is now 28 and an attorney, filed court documents in Washington state alleging that Hansen, 50, molested her in 1990, when she was two years old, according to Radar Online. Specifically, she alleged that, during a medical examination, she revealed that “daddy puts his finger in my potty-pot” and telling her grandmothers that “daddy pottied on my leg.”
“I have memories of my father hurting my genital region. Memories of being in a room alone with my father and crying out in pain.”
In a lengthy statement, Hansen denied the allegations.
“‘This is nothing more than an old-fashioned shakedown. It’s a completely frivolous lawsuit full of lies that my ex-wife made up to take away my daughter, and still uses to try to extort money from me. It’s blackmail.”
Specifically, Hansen says, the lawsuit is retribution against him because he refused to pay $300,000 for his estranged daughter to go to law school.
Hansen was cleared by a Washington court of any criminal wrongdoing. He can still be sued civilly over the molestation claims. That’s because Washington law allows sexual molestation victims to pursue civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers well into adulthood.
At the time, The Discovery Channel promised not to let the allegations affect production or airing of Deadliest Catch, noting that the allegations were decades old and that Hansen had already been cleared of any wrong doing.
[Featured Image by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images]
