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One man was arrested Saturday night following a reported assault and altercation inside a Greenville, South Carolina restaurant that involved Brian Hickerson, boyfriend of the late Hollywood actress Hayden Panettiere.
Officers with the Greenville Police Department (GPD) were dispatched to Wild Wing Café at 1025 Woodruff Road at approximately 9:10 p.m. EDT on Saturday (September 12, 2026) after receiving a report of an assault inside the restaurant.
When officers arrived, they encountered several people who had reportedly been involved in the altercation and detained multiple patrons while they investigated.
Among those detained were Hickerson and his brother, Zachary Hickerson.
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According to police, officers determined Zachary was highly intoxicated and began yelling profanities in the public setting during the investigation.
Video from the chaotic scene, however, provides a glimpse of Brian Hickerson’s involvement in the incident.
Footage obtained by TMZ shows an apparently agitated Brian inside the restaurant throwing a chair as several bystanders appear to attempt to restrain him. A separate video posted to TikTok shows Brian outside the restaurant in handcuffs with blood running down his face.
As he stands on the sidewalk surrounded by officers, Brian can be heard telling his brother, “GPD leaked it when my girlfriend died.”
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The comment appears to reference Panettiere, who died last month in Greenville while temporarily staying at the Judson Mill Lofts.
Panettiere, 36, was pronounced dead on August 16, 2026. Brian and Zachary Hickerson were both present at the apartment when authorities responded following her death.
Despite being detained and handcuffed Saturday night, Brian was ultimately released from the scene and was not charged.
Zachary was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge and transported to the Greenville County Detention Center (GCDC).
Police have not released additional details about what precipitated the altercation, including the circumstances surrounding the initial assault call or how Brian sustained the apparent injury to his face.
The incident remains under investigation.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Troy Styles is a field correspondent for FITSNews. He is also the owner of Blunt Force Media.
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3 comments
GPD is a woke DEI organization who doesn’t care about enforcing the law. Brian was videoed committing disorderly conduct and breach of peace among other things yet they let him walk. He probably said he was going to sue them and they want their image to be pristine. Just look at the issues every weekend downtown, a lot of times they just stand by and watch while assaults occur. If it wasn’t for the elected sheriff in Greenville county there would be no real law enforcement in the area.
Go home, dude. You’re drunk.
How many police departments outside of large liberal cities have an LBGTQ community liaison officer? How many promote based on gender and sexual identity rather than competence? Do just a tiny bit of research.