Charlie Sheen arrested over domestic violence claims

Actor Charlie Sheen spent the better part of Christmas Day in a jail cell after being arrested over domestic violence claims.

The 44-year-old actor was taken into custody yesterday morning by officers responding to an emergency call from a house in the Colorado ski resort town of Aspen.

An ambulance went to the house, but the accuser was not taken to the hospital.

Sheen, the star of CBS' Two and a Half Men, was taken to the Pitkin County jail and booked for investigation of second-degree assault and menacing, both felonies, along with criminal mischief, a misdemeanour, Aspen police spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro said.

He was released hours later after posting a £5,310 bond and being advised by a county judge on the conditions of his release, she said. A court date was set for February 8.

Ms Dasaro declined to name Sheen's accuser, citing a department policy banning the identification of potential victims in domestic violence cases.

Sheen's publicist Stan Rosenfield said: "It would benefit everyone not to jump to any conclusion."

Sheen is the son of actor Martin Sheen and brother of actor-director Emilio Estevez. He is married to Brooke Mueller Sheen, a property investor who gave birth to the couple's first children, twin boys, in March.

They married in May 2008 following Sheen's bitter divorce and custody battle with actress Denise Richards.