Yahoo News Dustin Diamond Opens Up About His Prison Time: ‘It's Scary Going Into That Environment’
Dustin Diamond has spoken out for the first time since he was arrested for being involved in a bar brawl in 2014.
The ‘Saved By The Bell’ actor was found guilty of disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon following a brawl in a Wisconsin bar during Christmas in 2014.
Copyright [Noel Vasquez/Getty Images]
People reports that he was sentenced to four months in jail, with 15 months of probation.
Dustin, who’s known for playing ‘Screech’ on ‘Saved By The Bell’, has now given his first post-jail interview to Mario Lopez, who played A.C Slater on the show, for Extra TV.
Explaining what happened that night, Dustin said he was at the Grand Avenue Saloon in Port Washington with his fiancée, Amanda Schutz, when a group of people asked them for photos.
He said: “One of the girl’s friends [Amanda] was talking to sucker-punched my fiancée… she leaned back to me and her face was covered in blood.”
Copyright [Noel Vasquez/Getty Images]
Dustin continued on to say a male grabbed Amanda by the hair, at which point he went in to protect her, understandably, explaining: “I opened my pocket knife and said, ‘Let my wife go immediately,’ which worked.
“I had my pocket knife like this… and the blade was right here and the guy came from around me and grabbed my throat, and so he nicked his arm on the tip of it. It was a Band-Aid, the most expensive Band-Aid I’ve ever bought.”
The 39-year-old described his prison time as ‘pretty daunting’, saying that it’s ‘pretty scary going into that environment’.
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He added: “I found that as long as you follow the rules and stay with the system, it works. You can get in and out unscathed.”
Dustin now wants to focus on marriage, starting a family and pursuing acting, admitting: “I want to put the tomfoolery and malarkey behind me… for that clean slate. Time for a change.”
