TV's 'Screech' arrested on weapons charge

Dustin Diamond, the actor who played "Screech" on the TV sitcom Saved by the Bell, was arrested Friday in Wisconsin on a weapons charge, according to the Ozaukee County sheriff's office.

Diamond, 37, was taken into custody for possession of a switchblade, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and carrying a concealed weapon, according the county website.

TMZ, quotingunidentified sources,reported that Diamond was in a bar with his wife when they spotted another couple taking their picture and an argument ensued.

There was some shoving, there was some scuffling, the cops were called and at some point Diamond allegedly pulled out a knife.

Diamond, who lives in Port Washington, Wisc., about 25 miles north of Milwaukee, was held on $1,000 bond pending a hearing later Friday.

Saved by the Bell was a long-running school-based comedy that ran from the late 1980s until 2000. Diamond played Samuel "Screech" Powers for nearly 13 years.

Diamond later toured as a stand-up comedian and appeared on reality TV shows and in a few small movie roles.

He also put his name on a controversial memoir, Behind the Bell (2009), which painted an unflattering picture of his fellow actors and their allegedly sordid adventures behind the scenes of the show. Among other things, he claimed to have had sex with thousands of women.

The book was strongly challenged by critics and former co-stars. Diamond acknowledged in December 2013 that the book was ghost written by an author who exaggerated and fabricated anecdotes from innocuous statements Diamond made in interviews.

Earlier this year, Lifetime aired a movie, The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story, examining what happens when six unknown young actors have to grow up in the public eye.