Hot-headed, hell-raising movie star Russell Crowe spent the morning sleeping on a blanket on the floor of a police holding cell after hurling a telephone at the concierge at a trendy SoHo hotel, cops said yesterday.
“I have a problem controlling my temper sometimes,” the Oscar-winning Gladiator told cops after creating early-morning mayhem at the Mercer Hotel, according to police sources.
Crowe’s latest flare-up – which could send him to prison for up to eight years – took place at 4:20 a.m. yesterday in the lobby of the Mercer, where one worker said he’d been acting like “the worst SOB” since checking into his $3,000-a-night suite.
Just back from a quick weekend trip to Manchester, England, Crowe had spent several hours at a popular SoHo watering hole before returning to the hotel and trying to phone his wife, actress Danielle Spencer, back home in Australia.
He tried repeatedly to make the call, but was told there were no overseas lines available, the sources said.
Frustrated, he unplugged the phone and carried it down to the hotel lobby, where he flung it at the concierge, according to the sources.
It hit the concierge, Nestor Estrada, 28, under his eye, they said.
The enraged New Zealander also hurled a plate at Estrada, but it missed him, they said.
Frightened, Estrada ducked into an office behind the desk and locked himself inside, while another hotel employee called 911.
Estrada, fearing Crowe would continue his frenzied attack, remained inside his locked office until police arrived.
“The guy was going nuts,” Estrada told cops.
“I was scared. I didn’t want to go out. I thought he might still be there.”
Once he told cops what had happened, Estrada was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he was treated for facial cuts and bruises.
The cops, meanwhile, went to Crowe’s second-floor suite, the best in the hotel, where he answered their knock at his door and listened as they detailed Estrada’s complaint.
“He was very nice and cooperative,” a source said.
That’s when he said, “I have a problem controlling my temper sometimes.”
He “admitted that he picked up the phone and threw it . . . because he was angry,” according to the arresting officer’s report. Crowe, 41, was taken to the 1st Precinct station house, where he was arrested, fingerprinted, photographed, and locked in a holding cell.
He told cops he was concerned about how his arrest would affect his visa and his ability to continue working in the United States.
He spent the rest of the morning “sleeping like a little baby” on a blanket on the floor of the cell, a source said.
In mid-morning, his attorney arrived – with an egg-on-a-bagel and a bottle of Pepsi for him.
“He was a gentleman,” one cop said of the station house’s star guest. “He was not drunk.”
As he left for court, he told cops, “I’m not going to come back here ever again.” It wasn’t clear if he meant the station house or the city.
Less than a half-hour later, Crowe was in Manhattan Criminal Court.
He was unshaven, sporting sunglasses and still wearing the outfit he had on more than 36 hours earlier when he attended a boxing match in Manchester.
The get-up consisted of a black T-shirt, blue jeans, black romper-stomper boots and a lightweight dark blue jacket, with a bulldog and shamrock emblazoned on the front, promoting his latest flick “Cinderella Man,” about boxing legend James Braddock.
Crowe had been in Manchester Saturday to publicize the film, which has had him in a foul mood because of its disappointing reviews and box office gross.
In court, he took the same seat occupied last week by actor Christian Slater before his arraignment on a butt-grabbing charge.
Crowe was uncharacteristically mum as the charges against him were spelled out – assault, punishable by up to seven years in prison, and weapons possession, which could mean another year in prison.
“This defendant is charged with hitting a hotel employee with a telephone,” prosecutor Chad Sjoquist told Judge Martin Murphy.
He asked that Crowe be held on $5,000 bail.
“Mr. Crowe has never been arrested in this country,” countered Crowe’s high-profile defense attorney Gerald Lefcourt. The judge released Crowe without bail for a Sept. 14 hearing.
He took off in a black SUV with tinted windows that was waiting for him outside the courthouse.
A short time later, the SUV, with Crowe no longer inside, pulled up in front of the Mercer. Staffers wheeled out the star’s luggage – five garment bags and a large leather trunk and matching suitcase.
Crowe’s publicist gave an account of the hotel hostilities that differed sharply with the police version.
“Frustrated by a clerk’s unwillingness to help him put through a phone call to his family in Australia, Russell Crowe was involved in a minor altercation at the Mercer Hotel,” said Robin Baum.
“After asking the front desk several times to replace a faulty phone in his room – and getting only attitude from the clerk on duty – Crowe brought the phone down to the front desk in an effort to address the situation in person. Words were exchanged and Crowe wound up throwing the phone against the wall.”
Hotel employees told cops Crowe had been abusive to staffers ever since checking in last week, sources said.
One worker described Crowe as “the worst SOB you’ll ever meet in your life.”
Crowe had been scheduled to check out of the hotel tomorrow – after he taped an appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”
Before the hotel flare-up, Crowe had been drinking at Eight Mile Creek, an Aussie-themed SoHo bar popular with Australians, according to a regular.
“He was there, drinking beer . . . until at least 2:30 a.m.,” she said.
“He was there with several friends, and one of his buddies was playing the guitar and he [Crowe] was singing, they were slow love songs,” she said.
“At one point, between songs, someone shouted ‘Get loud,’ at him, and he answered, very annoyed, ‘You have a lot of internalizing to do before you open your mouth.’ ”
Additional reporting by Dareh Gregorian, Jamie Schram and Daniel Friedman
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Tale of the tape
NAME: Russell Crowe
BIRTHPLACE: Wellington, New Zealand
NICKNAMES: Rusty, Rus Le Roc
HEIGHT: 5’11 1/2″
FIGHTING WEIGHT: 172 lbs.
REACH: As short as his temper
FIGHT VENUES: Wherever, whenever
PERSONALITY: Hot-headed, quick-tempered
MOTIVATION FOR FIGHTING: Over spilt milk, failed phone calls, etc.
TOP PROFESSIONAL TITLE: Best Actor, 2001, “Gladiator”
LOST TITLE TO: Denzel Washington, 2002, “Training Day”
*
NAME: James Braddock
BIRTHPLACE: Manhattan
NICKNAMES: Bulldog of Bergen, Cinderella Man
HEIGHT: 6’3″
FIGHTING WEIGHT: 190 lbs.
REACH: 75 inches
FIGHT VENUES: Only in the ring
PERSONALITY: Level-headed, even-tempered
MOTIVATION FOR FIGHTING: To provide milk for his family
TOP PROFESSIONAL TITLE: World Heavyweight Champion, 1935
LOST TITLE TO: Joe Louis, 1937