Hayden Panettiere's Boyfriend Accused Of Punching Her In The Face On Valentine’s Day

Actress Hayden Panettiere’s boyfriend Brian Hickerson started off his Valentine’s Day in police custody after being arrested in Wyoming on domestic battery charges.

Deputies with the Teton County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in the Jackson area in the early morning hours on Friday and ultimately arrested Hickerson, 30, at around 2:30 a.m., PEOPLE reports. Officials with the office confirmed to the outlet that Hickerson was booked on misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and interference with a cop.

Authorities received a call that night that an intoxicated male had been locked out of a house because he’d punched his girlfriend in the face, according to court documents obtained by E! News, which do not list Panettiere by name. Responding deputies found Hickerson in the driveway; he allegedly told authorities that Panettiere was “saying he beat the f--k out of me,” but when questioned by deputies regarding whether or not he struck Panettiere, he did not directly answer, the outlet reports.

Brian Hickerson Photo: Teton County Sheriff's Office

The documents state that Hickerson also claimed that he’d arranged for a private chef to be present at the home so that he “wouldn’t be accused of bulls--t,” but authorities who talked to the chef on the phone reported that he said that he actually left the house at around 1 a.m., and that he witnessed the couple arguing earlier that night, E! News reports.

Panettiere, 30, told authorities that she was in the bedroom with Hickerson when he began throwing her around and punched her, according to TMZ, who identified Panettiere as the alleged victim referred to in court documents. Hickerson was accused in court documents of hitting the actress “with a closed fist on the right side of her face,” the outlet reports.

Upon their arrival, deputies noted that Panettiere's face was red and swollen, and her left hand was also scrapped and looked to be swelling, according to those documents.

When contacted by Oxygen.com, the Teton County Sheriff’s Office declined to release information related to the case because it is an active investigation.

Hickerson was released from custody hours after his arrest and posted $5,000 bond. He is due to appear in court sometime in March, according to E! News. 

Panettiere has not commented publicly on the arrest.

Hickerson apparently has a history of alleged violence toward Panettiere, who he first began dating in 2018. He was arrested in May and charged with a felony count of domestic violence, to which he pleaded not guilty; prosecutors decided to dismiss the case in September, as well as a protective order, after officials were unable to secure a material witness, PEOPLE previously reported.