Comic Out On Bail

Comedian Kevin Meaney is out on bail, after being arrested in an alleged scuffle with a National Guardsman at San Francisco International Airport.

Officials say Meaney, 45, was taken into custody Sunday after security officials noticed he was filming an American Airlines airport security checkpoint with a video camera - an activity that is banned by federal law.

"He got rather belligerent, loud or rude," Sgt. Larry Ratti, an airport police spokesman, said Monday. "That's when the National Guard began talking to him."

Ratti said that Meaney's wife then went through a security checkpoint, and set off its sensor, causing officials to ask her to submit to a secondary security screening.

"She lifted up her blouse and showed her bra to the screeners, which got (Meaney) even more upset," Ratti said. "He got into a little jostling match with the National Guard, and at some point his hand came into contact with the butt of the gun."

Ratti emphasized that there was no indication that Meaney was trying to "grab" the gun and described the scuffle as minor.

"The majority of the problem was based on his conduct - he was very loud and caused a disturbance at the checkpoint, yelling at the supervisors who were trying to calm him down and at the soldiers," said National Guard 1st Lt. Robert Paoletti.

Meaney was booked into the San Mateo County Jail on a felony charge of attempting to take a firearm from a police officer, as well as two misdemeanor charges of battery and disturbing the peace.

A spokeswoman for the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said Meaney was subsquently released on $10,000 bail and is due in court in South San Francisco on April 8.

Meaney appeared with Tom Hanks in the 1988 film "Big", starred in the CBS sitcom "Uncle Buck" and has appeared on a number of late night television shows.