TOM ARNOLD DEFENDS CHARLIE SHEEN

Comic actor Tom Arnold has defended Charlie Sheen - insisting the star is a "target" for false reports due to his controversial past.

Charlie Sheen was arrested on Christmas Day (25Dec09) after a bust-up with wife Brooke Mueller. He was charged with third-degree assault, menacing, and criminal mischief, and is back in court in Colorado on Monday (15Mar10).

He has since undergone treatment at a recovery facility as a "preventative measure", while his wife also went into rehab.

But Tom Arnold, who has battled drink and drugs since he was a teenager and is now celebrating 20 years of sobriety, insists he finds it hard to believe Charlie Sheen could be violent towards Mueller.

He tells Larry King, "Addiction - being drunk could lead to violence. It can. I'm not saying it was Charlie. I love Charlie. I know Charlie. I don't believe anything that I've read about what happened with Charlie. You know, I think he's been open about he and his father, about his situation. I know he's worked real hard on it. I've never heard any of the violence attached to it.

"That's the thing. If you're like me, and people know you were once a drug addict - they can Google my name - they can accuse me of anything... It doesn't matter. You are a target. Charlie Sheen is a very good target."

In 1998, Charlie Sheen fell out with his actor father Martin after he reported the star for violating his parole. Charlie Sheen was on two years probation for attacking a girlfriend when he allegedly overdosed after injecting cocaine.