Hallmark’s Eric Mabius Pleads Not Guilty to Battery After Allegedly ‘Ripping’ Woman’s Hair Out 

Eric Mabius has pleaded not guilty after being arrested for allegedly ripping a woman’s hair out.

Mabius, 53, submitted the plea through his attorney on Monday, February 24, in court in Nassau County, Florida. He also waived the right of appearance at pre-trial hearings in the case.

The actor, who’s best known for his leading role on ABC’s Ugly Betty, was arrested on Thursday, February 20, and booked into the Nassau County Jail and Detention Center, which released a mug shot in which Mabius is seen with a laceration next to his right eye. At the time, an arrest record explained that he was taken into custody for battery and resisting arrest without violence.

However, new details have emerged that give a fuller picture of the ordeal. According to a police report obtained by Us Weekly, Mabius was involved in a fight with two women, Jennifer Moreno and Amelia Bell, at a bar in Yulee, Florida, last Thursday. The altercation resulted in both Mabius and Moreno’s battery arrests. 

After arriving on the scene, a police officer “observed a white male trying to help [Moreno] stand. They were both extremely intoxicated and kept trying to yell at everyone in the bar. I escorted them outside to try to separate everyone. [Moreno] just laid on the ground and refused to listen and or speak.” Meanwhile, Mabius “became more belligerent” and did not follow “simple commands to just sit on the bench.” At one point, he “tried to stand up and walk behind” the officer while he was investigating the incident. 

Bell told police that Moreno had been allegedly “disrespectful to everyone at the bar” and was repeatedly asked to leave. She claimed that Moreno “began to spit on several people and then looked at [Bell] as if she was going to spit on her.” Bell alleged that Moreno started to push her after she told her to exit the bar. Then Mabius got involved, Bell claimed, knocking both her and Moreno to the ground. 

Bell “said this only took a few seconds but while she was on the ground Eric got on top of her and was pulling her hair” and “ripping a handful of her hair from her scalp,” the report stated, citing Bell’s recollection.

A witness named Michael Webb told police that he had been spit on by Moreno and watched as Mabius “slung both girls to the ground.” Webb “grabbed Eric off” them while police were on the way to the bar. 

The day of his arrest, Mabius was ordered by a court not to contact Bell or be within 500 feet of her home, vehicle or place of employment.

Mabius appeared on all four seasons of Ugly Betty as Daniel Meade, the editor-in-chief of Mode magazine. Mabius’ television credits also include Party of Five, The L Word and Popular. 

Most recently, Mabius appeared in a number of Hallmark Channel originals, including playing Oliver O’Toole in the Signed, Sealed & Delivered franchise. He also appeared in 2019’s It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, 2022’s Haul Out the Holly and 2023’s Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up, all Hallmark original films.