Jean-Claude Van Damme's son pleads guilty to assault charges after holding roommate at knife point
Martial arts action movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme's youngest son, Nicholas Van Varenberg, has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on Wednesday after he was accused of holding his roommate at knifepoint. The incident occurred at the 22-year-old's apartment in Tempe, Arizona, back on September 12, 2017.
As per court records, surveillance video camera footage shows Van Varenberg punching the wall of an elevator at the apartments near Arizona State University. The Tempe police were called and they followed a trail of Van Varenberg's blood from the elevator, which led them to the apartment.
The officers only left after Van Varenberg refused medical attention, and they determined no harm had been done, or crime committed — the police report of the incident states. But police soon returned once they received a complaint of banging and yelling coming from the apartment shared by him and his roommate. When they reached, no one answered the door.
However, a body camera video released by the Tempe Police Department showed Van Varenberg threatening to kill his roommate with a kitchen knife if he opened the door to the police, and simultaneously, he had also alluded to his famous connection at the time. "Do you guys want some fame or something or what?" Van Varenberg had asked the police when they had gone to check in on the noise reported by neighbors, as can be seen in the video footage.
For the next two hours, he refused to open the door of his apartment, but the police were finally able to lure him out of the room through his roommate — who had managed to flee the apartment and got into the complex's lobby. The police then made him call Van Varenberg and challenge him to a fight, which finally worked, as the police revealed.
Van Varenberg came out of the apartment within minutes of that call and was arrested right away under suspicions of aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment, and drug possession, reports USA Today. Initially, he had pleaded not guilty to the aggravated assault and kidnapping charges, back on September 26, 2017. His next sentencing is scheduled for October 3, this year.