TV Actor Held on Probation Violation

Former television actor Sasha Mitchell was arrested and held in the Ventura County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail Wednesday for violating probation in connection with his recent wife-beating conviction.

The 29-year-old actor and kick boxer pleaded no contest to misdemeanor spousal abuse last year for beating his pregnant wife when they lived in Thousand Oaks.

Sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to attend counseling sessions for abusers, Mitchell has twice violated the terms of his probation, prosecutors said.

After skipping out on three counseling sessions and four probation meetings earlier this year, authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Mitchell in Franklin County, Tenn., in August and upon posting $25,000 bail, he told a judge he would willingly return to California.

Standing in Ventura County Municipal Court on Wednesday afternoon, Mitchell said nothing as his Panorama City attorney tried to persuade Judge Bruce Clark to postpone a hearing for three months.

Attorney Gilbert R. Geilim explained that Mitchell needed to return to Tennessee to take care of his four children, who now live there with him.

“You’re telling me,” Clark responded angrily, “that if I grant a hearing in February, Mr. Mitchell will violate probation again by going back to Tennessee?”

Geilim said he had a bail bondsman in the courtroom who would immediately post a bond to ensure Mitchell’s return.

He asked the judge for leniency since the actor is no longer working locally on the show “Step-By-Step.”

“Mr. Mitchell has not worked since he left the show,” Geilim said. “He is working as a farmer in Tennessee.”

Clark denied the request and set a hearing for Dec. 13, ordering Mitchell held on $100,000 bail--an increase of $75,000 that had been requested by prosecutors.