When police showed up at his Mid-City home on Tuesday to ask whether he had sucker-punched comedian Andy Dick in the French Quarter over the weekend, David Hale allegedly told them, “Yes, I did that, but I had a reason.”

That reason, according to Hale: Dick had grabbed Hale’s genitals and winked at him after the entertainer performed at a club in the 600 block of Toulouse Street early Saturday morning, according to records filed Wednesday at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

The alleged provocation — which Dick’s representatives have denied — didn’t prevent police from jailing Hale on two counts of battery. Likewise, a law enforcement source said, the denial from Dick’s camp won’t prevent investigators from probing whether the 53-year-old performer himself committed a crime before the punch that sent him to the hospital for a day.

+2 Man accused of punching comedian Andy Dick in the French Quarter has been jailed The man accused of sucker-punching comedian-musician Andy Dick outside a French Quarter club early Saturday is in jail.

Court records outlining what led police to arrest Hale provide the most complete account yet of the incident, which occurred after Dick performed at One Eyed Jacks.

In plain view of multiple witnesses and at least one surveillance camera, Hale walked up to Dick outside the club about 2:20 a.m. and hit the comic on the right side of his face, police said. Dick fell over a parked motorcycle and lost consciousness on the ground as Hale began walking away from the scene.

One man who chased after Hale tried to stop him by placing a hand on his shoulder, police said. But Hale turned around and punched that man in the left eye, knocking him to the ground, police said, citing accounts from that victim and other witnesses.

Police said a Crimestoppers tip as well as a Facebook search led them to Hale, who lives in the 4400 block of Cleveland Avenue.

See video: Comic Andy Dick appears to have been blindsided by punch outside New Orleans club Comedian-musician Andy Dick was walking away from a French Quarter club early Saturday when a man stepped from behind a woman on the sidewalk …

Hale was holding a dog in his hand when he answered a knock at his door from police, court records said. The records stated Hale immediately said he hit Dick and had a reason for it. An investigator stopped Hale from talking and asked him to go to a police station to make a statement.

Hale agreed and waived his right to remain silent, police said. During his interview, he described going up to Dick after the show at One Eyed Jacks to tell the comic that he had enjoyed the show.

But, Hale claimed, Dick ”leaned in close to him and grabbed his genitals,” police said. Hale said he grew incensed, but Dick simply winked in reaction. Hale said he lost control and knocked Dick to the ground.

Dick was taken to Tulane University Medical Center, where he was treated for brain bleeding. He spent the rest of Saturday there and was discharged Sunday.

Meanwhile, police booked Hale on counts of second-degree battery and simple battery.

Dick’s camp on Wednesday rejected the notion that the comic had done anything to provoke the attack. One representative accused Hale of offering up multiple versions of events to others before settling on the one he gave police.

“Hale doesn’t have a straight story,” that person said. “He’s told several different stories.”

+2 Controversial comedian Andy Dick says he was assaulted outside a French Quarter club Comedian-musician Andy Dick had finished a performance at the One Eyed Jacks nightclub on Toulouse Street in the French Quarter early Saturday…

Guitarist Paris Dylan, who accompanied Dick during the performance at One Eyed Jacks, said that Hale was present in the nightclub’s green room before the show as a guest of the opening act, a band called the Unnaturals.

Dylan said that Hale mentioned that Dick had “tried to date his sister back in the day” and that Hale believed the situation “wasn’t good.”

Dylan said that Hale stood near Dick briefly for a photo, but he didn’t observe anything unusual. “There was no hanky-panky; there was no grabbing going on or anything,” he said.

Dylan said that Dick is recovering from his injury, but that “his head is still pounding." He and Dick performed at a Huntington Beach, California, nightclub on Tuesday despite Dick’s head injury. “It was a very slow show,” Dylan said.

Audience members asked questions about the New Orleans attack, Dylan said, but Dick mostly deferred to him for answers, because the comedian says he doesn’t remember the event.

Magistrate Court Commissioner Robert Blackburn set Hale’s bail at $15,000 on Wednesday.

Second-degree battery, the more serious count against him, is a felony that can carry up to eight years in prison. Simple battery is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of six months’ imprisonment.

Hale’s allegations against Dick could fit Louisiana’s definition of sexual battery. That crime is a felony that can bring up to 10 years in prison.

Controversial behavior both during and in between performances has punctuated Dick’s career.

The website Variety reported that Dick was charged in 2018 with sexual battery. He denied the claim before pleading no contest to lewd conduct and battery as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to avoid jail time, an MSN.com report stated.

In 2012, he received a substance abuse intervention on his own Internet television show, “Andy Dick Live!”

Five years before that, he was tossed from Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show for stroking Ivanka Trump's leg during an interview segment.

Dick may be best known for his role on the mid-1990s NBC television show “NewsRadio” and later appeared in feature films such as “Road Trip” and “Inspector Gadget.”