Amber Heard arrested in 2009 on charge of hitting girlfriend
Now it's Amber Heard's turn to fight accusations of domestic abuse.
Authorities at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state confirmed to USA TODAY that Heard was arrested by Port of Seattle Police on September 14, 2009, according to Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper.
Heard and her then-girlfriend, artist/photographer Tasya van Ree, got into a fracas at the airport after Heard allegedly grabbed and struck van Ree's arm.
Heard ended up being nicked for misdemeanor assault in the fourth degree/domestic violence, Cooper said.
However, in November of 2011, the police received a request to delete the arrest information on the case and as allowed under Washington state law, it was then deleted from the system, Cooper said.
But not from all systems.
After Heard was arrested and her mug shot taken, her case was assigned a number and she appeared in King County District Court in Seattle the next day, on Sept. 15, 2009. There she learned that prosecutors declined to press charges against her, the district court clerk's office confirmed to USA TODAY.
Van Ree, however, says Heard was "wrongfully" accused and the incident was blown out of proportion. In a statement issued by Heard's publicist Wednesday, van Ree said two cops "misinterpreted and over-sensationalized" the incident.
"I (recall) hints of misogynistic attitudes toward us which later appeared to be homophobic when they found out we were domestic partners and not just 'friends,' " the statement said. "It's disheartening that Amber's integrity and story are being questioned yet again. Amber is a brilliant, honest and beautiful woman and I have the utmost respect for her. We shared 5 wonderful years together and remain close to this day.”
Heard, 30, grabbed headlines two weeks ago when she filed for divorce and a restraining order with explosive allegations that her estranged movie-star husband, Johnny Depp, had abused her for years — including before their February 2015 marriage all the way until an alleged violent encounter on May 21 at their downtown Los Angeles loft.
Ever since, Heard and Depp, 52, have been trying to out-smear each other in the media while denying various allegations each has made in court documents and in public via their lawyers and publicists.
Depp and Heard's divorce chaos chronicled
On Tuesday, TMZ landed with a new story that Heard had her own troubles with temper-tantrums and domestic strife.
Heard and van Ree were dating in 2009, and Heard was using van Ree's last name. (Now van Ree is dating Caroline Vreeland, great-granddaughter of the late Vogue doyenne, Diana Vreeland.)
audio purported to be recorded during the hearing. "Amber van Ree" is told by the judge that even though prosecutors were not filing charges against her, they could in the future.
Heard's rep did not return an email seeking comment; neither did Depp's representative.
Van Ree meanwhile has been active on her social media accounts.
