SALT LAKE CITY — Actor Emile Hirsch was charged Thursday with assault after police said he put a studio employee in a chokehold and dragged her across a nightclub table while he was in Utah for the Sundance Film Festival.

Hirsch was charged with aggravated assault and intoxication.

Court documents say the altercation occurred Jan. 25 at Tao Nightclub in Park City when Hirsch, looking drunk, approached Paramount Pictures employee Daniele Bernfeld and asked her why she looked “so tough.”

He also said she was a “rich kid who should not be at Sundance,” the documents say.

Investigators say Hirsch grabbed Bernfeld and she pushed him away. He left and sat with friends before coming back and grabbing the woman from behind, the documents state. She was put in a chokehold and pulled across the table before Hirsch landed on top, authorities said.

Bernfeld told authorities she saw things going dark and might have blacked out momentarily.

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Hirsch, of Encino, California, told police he didn’t know Bernfeld but was having an argument with her.

Hirsch, 29, is best known for his starring role in “Into the Wild.” He also appeared in Universal’s Navy SEAL drama “Lone Survivor.”

He was not arrested but was scheduled to make his first court appearance March 16 at a court in Park City.

Hirsch was at Sundance for the premiere of “Ten Thousand Saints,” a movie in which he appears alongside Ethan Hawke and Asa Butterfield.


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