Fox 2 News reporter Charlie LeDuff's police citation for alleged fighting at Sunday's St. Patrick's Day parade is being covered by other Metro Detroit media with prominent mentions of his unorthodox broadcast style.
An Oakland Press headline calls him "eccentric," while an online article at WDIV has the phrase "known for his bizarre antics on camera" in the first sentence.
At WXYZ, Bill Proctor's online story begins this way:
He describes his TV reporting as “off the chain” and now there are allegations that Fox 2 reporter Charlie LeDuff was off the chain in his personal life.
Free Press reporter Matt Helms, who refers to LeDuff's "bizarre stunts" in his lead paragraph Wednesday, pokes fun at the reporter on his personal Facebook and Twitter feeds. "This one's for you, Charlie LeDuff," he says with a post of a viral You Tube video titled "Charlie Bite Me." On another post about the incident, he adds "LOL!" (1 p.m. Wednesday update: The posts were removed after a Deadline Detroit inquiry.)
Proctor was among the first with the news, reporting Tuesday evening that the Detroit Police Department is investigating a "booze-fueled brawl" involving Fox 2 Detroit star Charlie LeDuff.
"It was a vicious assault that was totally unprovoked by anyone," said Linda Bernard, an attorney for a man who says he was LeDuff's victim.
Helms, whose first story went online at 7 p.m. Tuesday, identifies the victim as Sunny Miller, a 54-year-old Detroiter who was handling security at a tent party during Sunday's St. Patrick's Day Parade on Michigan Avenue.
LeDuff was cited for aggravated assault, according to a police report.
Proctor, citing a police report, says witnesses saw LeDuff urinating on Michigan Avenue at Brooklyn toward the end of the parade. Bernard says people were taking pictures of the newsman.
LeDuff ended up inside a nearby tent that was the site of a private party. Three women walked by who happened to be "attractive" Detroit cops. Bernard said LeDuff called the women "unsavory" names that she could not repeat on TV. The police report says LeDuf called them "whores."
Proctor reported when the unidentified party host attempted to stop the "verbal barrage" from LeDuff, the two men started fighting after LeDuff spit in the man's face. When a security guard intervened, Bernard said, LeDuff bit him on the fingers. Eventually, said Proctor, LeDuff's brother, Frank, joined the fight.
LeDuff told Proctor: "I was invited to come in and have a drink and it turned into a fight . I was tying to get guys off me and my brother. That's the way it is. No hard feelings on my end."
Asked about the public urination, LeDuff told Proctor: “No, I think I was behind the tent, possibly, I don’t know. I’ll have to see a picture. I don’t think so. No reason to get your head stomped.”
Was there was public urination?" Proctor asked.
"I don't know, to be honest" LeDuff responded. "I don't know."
Did he have too much to drink? “Probably,” LeDuff said.
LeDuff, who grew up in Livonia, is a veteran journalist who made a national name for himself at the New York Times before returning to Detroit to work at the Detroit News and Fox 2, where his stories have gained attention for both their news value and his on-screen performances.
Deadline Detroit named LeDuff journalist of the year in metro Detroit for 2012.
LeDuff recently published a memoir about his return home titled "Detroit: An American Autopsy." The book is No. 17 on the New York Times' bestseller list for hardcover non-fiction.
To read the police report, click here.
