“Home Improvement” star Zachery Ty Bryan, 42, has pleaded guilty to felony assault.
The actor was reportedly arrested for domestic violence in Eugene, Oregon, on July 28 after local police received a report about a physical dispute between a man and a woman. The argument occurred hours earlier after Bryan had already left the scene.
The former child star purportedly pleaded guilty as part of a deal that takes extensive jail time off the table. His lawyer, John Kolego, told ET on Wednesday that Bryan “believes this is the manner he could best resolve this to avoid further trauma to his family.”
The actor was booked on assault in the fourth degree under the Abuse Prevention Act as Bryan — who was previously arrested for domestic violence and driving under the influence — had a standing restraining order filed against him by the victim.
Bryan reportedly avoided a 19 to 20-month prison sentence by accepting this plea deal, which requires him to serve 36 months under supervised probation. He was also ordered to avoid any contact with the publicly unidentified plaintiff.
The Colorado native has been arrested numerous times for crimes before.
Bryan was sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty in May 2020 to driving under the influence. He was also ordered to complete 18 months of a multiple-offender alcohol program due to previous arrests for the crime in 2004, 2007 and 2017, per ET.
Bryan was arrested in October 2020 as well for felony strangulation, fourth-degree assault, coercion, menacing, harassment and interfering with making a police report. The actor had an alleged affair at the time with a woman named Johnnie Faye Cartwright.
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While Bryan told The Hollywood Reporter in June the arrest “got so blown out of proportion,” the obtained police report alleged he “pulled her hair,” punched Cartwright in the face and “choked” her for 45 seconds. His abuses reportedly began months earlier.
Bryan told the outlet he was frustrated with his “double life” and had “been drinking too much.” He eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor menacing and fourth-degree assault and was given three years probation, ordered not to contact Cartwright and to stop drinking.
The actor was 9 years old when “Home Improvement” premiered on ABC in 1991. He was cast in shows like “Burn Notice” and the “Knight Rider” reboot well into adulthood but pivoted into producing after fathering four children with his then-wife, Carly Matros.
The former couple reportedly met in high school, married in 2007 and raised their kids together in Newport Beach, California, before divorcing in 2020. Bryan previously praised former President Donald Trump and frequently appeared on conservative news shows.
He told Fox News in 2018: “There’s a lot more conservatives in Hollywood than you would expect.”
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.