By Earl Rinehart, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – Comedian and Columbus resident Faizon Andre Love, probably best known for his role in the Christmas movie “Elf,” pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he attacked a valet over a bill at John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
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The 6-foot-1, 340 pound Love was silent as a prosecutor and a defense attorney gave their accounts of the incident at the airport Tuesday afternoon.
Love, 48, was free after paying 10 percent of a $2,000 bond for assault, a first-degree misdemeanor. If convicted, he could face as many as six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Love lives in a Downtown apartment on South 4th Street, according to court records. He’s scheduled to appear March 15 at Columbus Funny Bone.
Attorney John Moore was assigned to represent Love at the hearing Wednesday morning. He said he didn’t know how long Love has lived here. Love gave airport police a driver’s license with a Beverly Hills, California, address.
A security video shows Love talking to employees at a valet counter when he walks over to an employee identified by police as Terrence A. Gaines II, 24.
The two men appeared to have exchanged words, then Love grabbed Gaines by the back of the neck and threw him to the floor. He picked up Gaines and slammed him headfirst into the counter, then threw him to the floor again. When Gaines tried to get up, Love pushed him back to the floor. Other employees separated the two men.
Gaines had abrasions above his left eye and on his chin, according to an airport police report.