PORT WASHINGTON, Wisc. — A jury has found actor Dustin Diamond not guilty of one felony charge in a Christmas Day bar stabbing last year.
But it found him guilty of two misdemeanor charges, according to court documents released Friday.
The Wisconsin court determined that Diamond, better known as “Screech” in the 1990s sitcom “Saved by the Bell,” did not recklessly endanger safety, but he carried a concealed weapon and behaved in a disorderly manner.
Diamond, 38, of Port Washington, was involved in an altercation in the Grand Avenue Saloon.
He and his girlfriend, Amanda Schutz, 27, were inside the bar when a group of intoxicated people started behaving in a rude and insulting manner, leading him to believe “there was going to be a brawl,” he said, according to the arrest report back then.
He said he turned to close his account and get their coats, but when he looked back, his girlfriend was bleeding and two men were holding her hair, the report said.
Diamond said he moved toward his girlfriend when a man grabbed him, the report said. Diamond said he might have stabbed the man with a pen used to sign a credit card receipt, but later conceded he was armed with the knife, the report said.
“Diamond stated that he did not intentionally stab the individual in the bar but that chaos broke out and people were grabbing at him and that he swung his arms to break free,” the report stated.
The man identified as the stabbing victim told police he didn’t see a knife or initially feel being cut. Police said the wound was not life threatening.
Diamond appeared on “Saved by the Bell” as awkward nerd Samuel “Screech” Powers from 1989 to 1993, and later appeared in various spinoffs of the hit show.
