LI native Criss Angel involved in altercation at Las Vegas show

Long Island-raised illusionist Criss Angel helped remove an allegedly belligerent man from one of the star’s stage shows over the holidays, with the man now saying Angel put him in a chokehold.

Brandon McDonald, 31, of Ontario, Canada, was at the “Criss Angel Mindfreak” show at the Criss Angel Theater in Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood on Dec. 29 when an altercation occurred, according to the man’s attorney and a police report of the man’s arrest.

With the show in progress, McDonald “was checking his phone to see if he got a message from his mother, who had had surgery recently,” attorney Michael Becker, McDonald's co-counsel with Adam Solinger, told Newsday Wednesday. “When a security guard came over initially to him, he said he was not filming or taking pictures. He even offered to show his phone to them.”

Regardless, security personnel and Angel, 56 — born Christopher Sarantakos in Hempstead and raised in Elmont and East Meadow — “escorted our client out of the theater and he was violently attacked by the security person and Criss Angel,” Becker said, “Criss Angel was screaming, ‘I'm gonna choke you!’ He had our nonresistant client in a chokehold. Our client is the victim, not the aggressor here.”

He added, “We have video of the whole thing. I believe it was Mr. McDonald’s girlfriend who shot it.”

The police report, obtained by outlets including the Las Vegas Review-Journal and TMZ.com, makes no mention of Angel attacking McDonald. It states McDonald jumped over seats and allegedly hit a security person with his fist. The security person subdued McDonald, and then Angel joined in to help escort the man to the lobby.

At that point, continues the report, “McDonald is seen hugging Criss and then Criss begin[s] to walk away back into the theater. McDonald then aggressively claps his hands together and suddenly jerks his body forward, leading with his shoulders as if attempting to intimidate Criss Angel.”

The security person then removed McDonald from the lobby and police charged him with misdemeanor battery. TMZ added that unnamed witnesses told the website McDonald was in the second row, causing an increasingly worsening disruption. After not complying with requests to put away his phone, TMZ said, McDonald scuffled with security personnel. Angel intervened only when McDonald attempted to grab a security person from behind, the site said.

“He contests that,” responded Becker. “He denies throwing any punches or initiating any physical altercation.” The attorney said discrepancies with police reports can arise because, “Often, security people control the narrative, and it’s understandable they would want to justify their actions.”

McDonald is home in Canada pending a scheduled March 5 hearing in Las Vegas.

Angel has not commented on social media. He has no listed publicist, and his management did not respond to a Newsday request for comment.