Singer Paul Simon and his wife, Edie Brickell, were arrested on disorderly conduct charges by officers investigating a “family dispute,” police said on Monday.
A caller from the singers' Connecticut home dialled police on Saturday night and hung up, police chief Leon Krolikowski said at a news conference on Monday. Officers who responded found minor injuries and believed it was a case of domestic violence, he said. He did not say who was injured.
Simon and Brickell, who have been married for more than two decades, were each given a misdemeanour summons and one of them agreed to leave and go to another location, Krolikowski said.
“There was aggressiveness on both sides,” he said. “They're both victims and they have children involved and we're trying to be very cautious of that.”
Simon, 72, and Brickell, 47, were released and an arraignment was scheduled for Monday in Norwalk.
Speaking outside the courthouse, the couple's lawyer Allan Cramer claimed the encounter that led to the arrests was "much less than nothing" and the pair have never had a disagreement like this before in the past.
Simon's agent in Los Angeles did not immediately return a call seeking comment. An agent for Brickell did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Simon is a 12-time Grammy winner and member of The Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame - as half of the duo of Simon and Garfunkel and as a solo artist.
Last month, he wrapped up a national tour with Sting. Most recently, Simon performed at the 25th anniversary of the Rainforest Fund benefit concert in New York on April 17.
Brickell is perhaps best known for the song “What I Am,” recorded with her band the New Bohemians and released in 1988.
She collaborated last year with comedian Steve Martin, who has an acclaimed career as a folk musician, for the roots album “Love Has Come For You.” The pair won a Grammy for best American Roots song in January. The two are touring and are due to perform next on May 9.
Simon and Brickell were married in 1992. - Sapa-AP and Bang Showbiz