

(Photo by Ozaukee County Sheriffs Office via Getty Images)

“Saved by the Bell” actor Dustin Diamond, most famous for playing the wacky teen Screech, was arrested on Christmas in a small town near Milwaukee for allegedly stabbing a man in a bar fight, the Port Washington police department confirmed. He appeared in court Friday afternoon where he was charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety; carrying a concealed weapon; and disorderly conduct (use of a dangerous weapon).

Police said Diamond, 37, and his girlfriend were at the Grand Avenue Saloon in Port Washington, Wis., when “an altercation took place.” Evidence at the scene indicated Diamond had stabbed a man and then left the bar with his girlfriend. The couple, driving away in Diamond’s SUV, were quickly pulled over and taken into custody. His girlfriend, a 27-year-old not named by police, was later released but also charged with disorderly conduct.

According to the AP, which says a criminal complaint refers to Diamond’s girlfriend as his fiancee, “Port Washington police found in the car a switchblade, the point of which was covered in what appeared to be blood.” The AP also added that “Diamond later told police he accidentally stabbed the man while trying to defend his fiancee, according to the complaint.”

The man who was stabbed did not have life-threatening wounds and is recovering at home, police said. The AP reports that Diamond is due back in court on Monday with bail set at $10,000.

If you’re wondering why Diamond was in Wisconsin, he moved to Port Washington (north of Milwaukee) in the early 2000s after his Hollywood success. Though in 2006, he was faced with foreclosure and started selling T-shirts to raise money and save his house. Around that time, a Details profile described his abode as “a large, bland suburban home.”

This caps off a strange year for Diamond, a star of the ’90s comedy “Saved by the Bell,” which had a brief resurgence in the fall when Lifetime aired “The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story,” based on his book about filming the show. Diamond, the youngest of the cast, was portrayed as the outcast of the group — but the sympathetic hero of the movie.