The brother of Hayden Panettiere’s ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson has spoken out after being arrested for disorderly conduct Saturday following a bar brawl involving Brian.
Zach Hickerson, who was placed into custody following an incident at a Greenville, South Carolina restaurant, told TMZ that the public’s misconceptions about the death of the actress caused tensions to escalate during the incident.
According to an eyewitness, the brothers were heckled about Panettiere’s death before Zach was arrested.
‘This is the problem with y’all putting stuff on the Internet: People fill in their own holes and then they want to attack people for no reason,’ Zach said following his release from a jail facility.
He continued, ‘It’s just super-frustrating all that we’ve been through and all the rumors that get started and then people believe them, and then they attack as a result of the rumors.’
Zach added, ‘That’s what pi**es me off,’ noting that he will ‘eventually’ clarify any falsehoods linked to the tragic case.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Hickerson’s legal representatives for further comment on the story.
Zach Hickerson, the brother of Hayden Panettiere’s ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson, has spoken out after being arrested for disorderly conduct Saturday following a bar brawl involving Brian; Pictured in mugshot
Brian, 37, and his brother appeared to be in a heated exchange with hecklers on Saturday at a Greenville, South Carolina restaurant, prior to police placing Brian in handcuffs
The brothers appeared to be in a heated exchange with hecklers on Saturday at a Greenville, South Carolina restaurant, ultimately leading to police placing Brian in handcuffs and Zach being arrested.
The brothers had been drinking at the Wild Wing Cafe, an eyewitness told TMZ Sunday, when other patrons on hand allegedly heckled the siblings over Panettiere’s August 16 death.
The eyewitness told the outlet that ‘about five middle-aged people’ had been at a nearby table, and women in the group had confronted the Hickerson brothers at their table numerous times.
It was not immediately clear if the women had been seeking to de-escalate the tense situation between the men at their table and the brothers, the eyewitness told the outlet.
The situation escalated when Zach confronted one of the male patrons at the table, the eyewitness said, and things appeared to get physical as the two were approaching the bar.
The one-time actor had been ‘drinking for hours’ with his brother Zach at a back table at the restaurant when he got up and went to the bar, according to the outlet.
At that point, the confrontation attracted the attention of others at the restaurant, with others physically getting involved, the eyewitness said, adding that a table had been knocked over and glasses had been tossed on the floor.
A worker appeared to be standing in front of Brian during the conflict. Hickerson, who was wearing a green hoodie and light-colored jeans, had been talking to some people when things got heated and he was seen picking up a bar stool and flinging it backwards.
A worker appeared to be standing in front of Brian during the conflict at the restaurant. Though he was later placed in handcuffs, Brian managed to avoid arrest and was released
According to an eyewitness, the brothers were heckled about Panettiere’s death before Zach was arrested; Brian and Panettiere pictured in LA in December of 2018
Zach said Sunday, ‘It’s just super-frustrating all that we’ve been through and all the rumors that get started and then people believe them, and then they attack as a result of the rumors’
The video showed Hickerson being lifted up and carried out of the saloon by a man in a red baseball cap as a bartender shouted, ‘Let him go!’
Brian wound up handcuffed by police and was seen claiming they had leaked details about Panettiere’s death as he sat cuffed on the curb, according to footage obtained by TMZ.
Brian and his brother were in conflict with some other people outside the restaurant when police arrived on the scene, an eyewitness told the outlet. He was seen in images sporting a facial cut following the conflict.
A source told TMZ that Hickerson was handcuffed by police and started shouting at them: ‘GPD leaked it when my girlfriend died,’ an obvious reference to Panettiere’s death.
Brian managed to avoid arrest and was released. However, Zach was reportedly heavily intoxicated and ‘yelling profanities,’ leading to his arrest in connection with disorderly conduct.
Brian and Zach were both present at the Greenville, South Carolina condo where Panettiere was pronounced dead at age 36.
According to the Greenville Police Department’s incident report, Zach told police that Brian was sleeping in a separate room of the Airbnb when he arrived and found the actress unresponsive in a chair.
Zach stated that Brian administered Narcan – a medication that reverses opioid overdoses – and that they performed CPR while communicating with 911 dispatchers.
The one-time actor had been ‘drinking for hours’ with his brother Zach at the Wild Wing Cafe when he got into a heated argument with some other people and flung a bar stool behind him
Panettiere wrote about her volatile and often abusive relationship with Hickerson in her memoir that was published on May 19, just three months before she died of a suspected drug overdose
Brian has since met with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) amid their investigation into the actress’ suspected overdose death, TMZ previously reported.
Local and federal investigators reportedly believe the actress was sold drugs that may have caused her death, and authorities are now focused on identifying the suspected dealer.
Panettiere’s toxicology reports and official cause of death have not yet been released.
The Nashville star had a volatile and tumultuous on-and-off relationship with Hickerson beginning in 2018.
Brian had been arrested and charged in connection with domestic abuse involving Panettiere multiple times.
In 2021, he pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend, resulting in jail time, probation, domestic violence classes, $500 in restitution, and a five-year protective order, per People.
Brian started yelling at cops for leaking details about Panettiere’s death as he sat cuffed on the curb, according to footage obtained by TMZ. Above, Panettiere seen in 2022
Hickerson was arrested and charged for domestic violence involving Panettiere multiple times. Above, Hickerson in a 2020 mug shot
Zach previously told TMZ: ‘There are a lot of assumptions, speculations and accusations currently swirling.
‘The truth will come out as the authorities complete and release additional details from the investigation. And that is important because the people who loved and adored Hayden deserve the truth.’
Zach described Panettiere as ‘one of the most precious individuals on this earth.’
He also argued that the star’s friends and family should be allowed to mourn her passing without any ‘additional noise.’
He added: ‘At this time, I want to clarify my involvement in effort to keep the focus on the fact that we lost one of the most precious individuals on this earth and to allow those that cared about her to mourn without additional noise, chaos, and misinformation being created and propagated by the media as well as the public.’
