Don McLean, the singer-songwriter best known for the classic “American Pie,” has been arrested on a domestic violence charge.
The 70-year-old was arrested early Monday on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and released from Knox County Jail after a couple of hours on $10,000 bail, law enforcement told the Associated Press.
Police responded to a 911 call made around 2 a.m. from the Camden, Maine, home he shares with wife Patrisha McLean, the Portland Press Herald reported. The singer was arrested without incident, Camden Police Chief Randy Gagne told the outlet.
The charge is the lowest level of assault crime, police told WCSH-TV Channel 6.
Patrisha McLean, Don McLean’s wife since 1987, is a photographer. The couple, who have two adult children, have lived in Camden for more than 20 years.
The singer has a Feb. 22 appearance scheduled at Knox County Superior Court in Rockland, Maine, according to the Wiscasset Newspaper. Courts were closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
The court date works with his tour schedule: McLean has performances on tap at the end of January in Chicago and a couple of Texas venues. He’ll hit Southern California -- La Mirada specifically -- on March 5, then it’s off to Australia for 11 dates before he returns for U.S. shows in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
McLean sold the original, handwritten manuscript of his 8½-minute epic “American Pie” last April for $1.2 million.
1/19
Vanilla Ice, real name Robert Van Winkle, was arrested in February 2014 in Florida on suspicion of felony burglary and grand theft. The rapper-turned-DIY Network personality, who allegedly took items from an abandoned home near one he was renovating for his TV show, cut a plea deal for community service, restitution and a clean record if he behaves for nine months.
(Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office / Associated Press) 2/19
Emile Hirsch was arrested Jan. 25, 2015, in Park City, Utah, on suspicion of assault but didn’t pose for booking photos until a March 16 court appearance. He allegedly put Paramount Digital Entertainment/Insurge Pictures VP Daniele Bernfeld in a chokehold at Sundance. (Handout / Getty Images)
3/19
Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on “Saved by the Bell,” was arrested Dec. 26, 2014, in Wisconsin after a bar fight late Christmas night. A police report said he admitted accidentally stabbing a man who was harassing his fiancee. (Ozaukee County Sheriff / Associated Press)
4/19
Former Los Angeles news anchor Bree Walker was arrested by Anaheim police Feb. 19, 2014, after authorities said she appeared drunk and refused to take a Breathalyzer test. (Handout / Getty Images)
5/19
David Cassidy was arrested on suspicion of felony driving while intoxicated on Aug. 21, 2013, in Schodack, N.Y. The actor was released on $2,500 bail. (Handout / Getty Images)
6/19
Dina Lohan was arrested Sept. 12, 2013, in New York on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after cops pulled her over for driving 77 mph in a 55 zone. She blew a 0.20 on a breath test, cops said, more than twice New York’s legal limit of 0.08. (Handout / Getty Images)
7/19
This notorious mug shot of “That ‘70s Show” actress Lisa Robin Kelly is from March 2012, when she was arrested on suspicion of spousal abuse in North Carolina. Kelly was arrested again in Burbank in June 2013 on suspicion of DUI. (Handout / Getty Images)
8/19
This Clark County Detention Center booking photo shows environmental activist Erin Brockovich, 52, arrested June 7, 2013, on suspicion of boating while intoxicated at Lake Mead near Las Vegas. Brockovich was released from the Clark County Detention Center after posting $1,000 bail. (HOPD / AP)
9/19
Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon became agitated after her husband, CAA agent Jim Toth, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Atlanta on April 19, 2013, officials said. Witherspoon was subsequently arrested for disorderly conduct. (Georgia Department of Corrections / AFP)
10/19
Stephen Baldwin was arrested Dec. 6, 2012, and arraigned on charges that he failed to file state income taxes for three years, 2008, 2009 and 2010. (Rockland County District Attorney’s Office / Associated Press)
11/19
The rapper and reality TV personality was arrested Oct. 18, 2012. According to a police report obtained by the Associated Press, he is accused of throwing his fiancee to the floor twice and wielding two knives while chasing and threatening to kill her 17-year-old son. (Las Vegas Police Department / Associated Press)
12/19
Randy Travis is bruised up in a mug shot taken after he was arrested Aug. 8, 2012, on suspicion of DWI and a third-degree felony count of retaliation. He was naked when he was arrested. (Grayson County Sheriff’s Office / Associated Press)
13/19
Amanda Bynes was arrested April 6, 2012, on suspicion of DUI after allegedly clipping the corner of a sheriff’s cruiser in West Hollywood. She later pleaded not guilty, and tweeted a request to President Obama asking that the officer who arrested her be fired. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. / Getty Images)
14/19
Randy Travis was arrested Feb. 6, 2012, on a charge of public intoxication. He was parked at a Baptist church, allegedly smelling of alcohol with an open bottle of wine in the front seat of his Trans Am. (Denton County Sheriff’s Dept. / Associated Press)
15/19
Nicolas Cage was arrested April 16, 2011, in New Orleans on charges of domestic abuse battery and disturbing the peace. He was allegedly drunk and fighting with his wife about whether the French Quarter residence they were standing in front of was their rental home. (Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office / Associated Press)
16/19
Flavor Flav -- real name William Jonathan Drayton Jr. -- was arrested in Las Vegas in May 2011 after a routine traffic stop resulted in police officers finding four warrants out for his arrest. The Public Enemy alum had four misdemeanor traffic warrants. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police / Getty Images)
17/19
David Cassidy’s car was stopped Nov. 3, 2010, on the Florida Turnpike for weaving and nearly causing an accident, police said. Cassidy allegedly failed a field sobriety test and later showed a blood alcohol level around 0.14. He pleaded no contest to DUI and got probation. (Florida Highway Patrol / Associated Press)
18/19
MIAMI - NOVEMBER 08: In this handout photo provided by the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, Lawrence Former NFL great Lawrence Taylor has been indicted on two felony counts and three misdemeanor charges related to the alleged rape of a 16-year-old allegedly hired as a prostitute, the Rockland County, N.Y., district attorney’s office said. (Handout / Getty Images)
19/19
O.J. Simpson’s mugshot from his arrest in Los Angeles in 1994. (Bob Carey / Los Angeles Times)
“I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct,” McLean told Rolling Stone before the auction. “I want to get the best deal that I can for them. It’s time.”
“Over the years I’ve dealt with all these stupid questions of ‘Who’s that?’ and ‘Who’s that?’” he told the magazine. “These are things I never had in my head for a second when I wrote the song. I was trying to capture something very ephemeral and I did, but it took a long time.”
In a statement released to Christie’s when the auction was announced, he said: “It was an indescribable photograph of America that I tried to capture in words and music and then was fortunate enough through the help of others to make a successful recording.”
Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ and Google+. Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter @LATcelebs.
MORE:
‘Drake & Josh’ star Drake Bell arrested in suspicion on DUI
