Gene Hackman Slaps Homeless Guy

But police determined it was self-defense
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 31, 2012 9:40 AM CDT
Gene Hackman Slaps Homeless Guy
In this 1993 file photo, actor Gene Hackman is seen.   (AP Photo/File)

It’s not often you see Gene Hackman’s name in the headlines these days, but this incident definitely got it there: Police say the 82-year-old actor slapped a homeless man in downtown Santa Fe yesterday, the AP reports, citing the Albuquerque Journal. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the man, Bruce Becker, approached Hackman and his wife as they were leaving a restaurant, threatened them, and called Hackman’s wife a “c**t.” That’s when Hackman slapped him in the face, and Becker called the cops.

Police determined the smack was self-defense, and no charges have been filed at the moment. "It looked like Mr. Hackman did this purely out of self-defense to protect himself and his wife," a police spokesperson tells E!. (More Gene Hackman stories.)

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