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Nicholas Brendon describes ‘blackout’ leading to arrest in Florida

Nicholas Brendon, pictured in February at an event in West Hollywood, was arrested Friday in Florida, his third arrest in five months.
Nicholas Brendon, pictured in February at an event in West Hollywood, was arrested Friday in Florida, his third arrest in five months.
(Araya Diaz / Getty Images)
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Nicholas Brendon was arrested again Friday evening -- his third arrest in five months -- after an incident in Tallahassee, Fla., that the actor has described as happening during a “blackout.”

The actor best known as Zander in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” allegedly caused as much as $1,000 in damage to a hotel room, the Associated Press reported. In town for appearances at the ALT*con pop culture festival over the weekend, he was released Saturday after being charged with damage to property and criminal mischief.

“I stopped taking my meds a while ago, which was a mistake,” Brendon told the Tallahassee Democrat in the wake of the arrest. “It culminated yesterday with my taking some sleeping pills and then going into a blackout.”

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The “Criminal Minds” actor, 43, said he has been dealing with depression. He also told the newspaper he would spend Sunday signing autographs with fans at the festival.

The arrest report, obtained by People and other outlets, detailed damage to the room: furniture that was overturned, a phone pulled out of the wall socket, a flipped bed, an inner door “ripped off,” a shattered porcelain “decorative piece” that appeared to have been thrown against a wall and an overflowing toilet in the bathroom.

Brendon was described by one officer as wearing torn, wet and soiled pajama pants and having toothpaste smeared on his face and shirt.

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Hotel managers reportedly told police the actor had been drinking during the day.

A 10-pill bottle of prescription sleeping pills that had been filled Friday was found with only one pill remaining, the report said.

Brendon was arrested in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in February after allegedly destroying his hotel room there and being found asleep in a hotel employee’s car. He was arrested in Boise, Idaho, in October on suspicion of resisting and obstructing arrest after an apparently drunken incident in a hotel lobby the night before a Comic-Con event.

He and Moonda Tee, whom he married in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, split in February, just days before the Ft. Lauderdale arrest. The Boise arrest came almost three weeks after they tied the knot.

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In 2010, Brendon was arrested in Santa Monica on suspicion of vandalism, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer in another incident described as a blackout, after which he checked himself into rehab. He previously sought treatment in 2004.

“We are aware Nick has a problem, and sometimes his disease gets the best of him,” a rep for the actor said in February. “He wants to get help, and he will get help.”

After the Boise arrest, Brendon apologized to fans via Facebook. On Monday, his page was no longer available.

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ and Google+. Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter @LATcelebs.

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