Actor Charlie Sheen is at the center of yet another controversy, as a Los Angeles dental technician has alleged that Sheen punched her chest and grabbed her bra in a dental visit gone wrong.
On Oct. 3, Margarita Palestino filed a lawsuit for sexual battery in the wake of the alleged incident, which occurred Sept. 25.
According to the complaint, Sheen ripped off his nitrous oxide mask, shouted “I’m going to f—ing kill you!” and pulled down on Palestino’s bra strap in an attempt to expose her, causing her to break free and run from the room. Upon returning at the request of one of the dentists performing the procedure, George Bogen, she claims Sheen punched her in the chest.
Palestino further alleges that Sheen’s personal assistant handed her $500, telling her, “This is for your troubles.” When she was cleaning up the procedure room, she says, Bogen told her Sheen had been high on crack cocaine, Theradol and alcohol.
Sheen was seeking treatment for an abscess.
According to Sheen’s publicist, Jeff Ballard, Sheen suffered from a bad reaction when nitrous oxide was administered, combining badly with a pain medication he was taking for an injured shoulder. According to Ballard, Sheen knocked over some dental tools, but the publicist denied the allegations set forth by Palestino
Sheen’s lawyers responded to the suit by saying that the technician is merely looking for her 15 minutes of fame, and only filed the lawsuit after she was fired for violating The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), which prohibits the release of personal information without patient consent. Apparently, Palestino had revealed to outsiders that Sheen was a patient at the dental practice.