When the driver asked for payment of $5, he said, Byrne refused to pay and said: "I'm a celebrity. This is my neighborhood. What are you gonna do about it?"
The driver said he began to follow Byrne down the street, at which point Byrne, host of a sports-talk show, "grabbed the complainants glasses and knocked them off his face. Defendant punched complainant in face several times and dragged him," said Officer Tanya Little, quoting the arrest report.
Police apprehended Byrne at 7th and Pine and he spent the night in jail. His girlfriend posted his bail of $500 Monday night. He was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, robbery and theft of services, police said. He has a preliminary hearing Feb. 3.
Byrne was scheduled to work his shift last night, but the station decided about 6:30 that he would not work. Byrne declined comment through 97.5's program director, Matt Nahigian. Nahigian also declined comment on how long Byrne would be off-air, or whether he had been suspended.
Byrne, who grew up in Bucks County, hosts from 7 to 10 p.m. weekdays on the Fanatic, and also the Eagles post-game shows. He announced basketball games for the University of Scranton, which he attended, and later worked at 1490 WBCB-AM. Byrne started working for ESPN 950 AM/97.5 The Fanatic in 2008.
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