Paul Simon and his wife of more than 20 years, singer and songwriter Edie Brickell were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct over the weekend, according to New Canaan Police in Connecticut.
The BBC reports police officers were called to the couple’s New Canaan home at about 8pm local time on Saturday to investigate “a family dispute”, after a caller from the singers’ home phoned police and then hung up.
Police chief Leon Krolikowski said officers who responded reportedly found minor injuries at the scene and believed it was a case of domestic violence. He did not say who was injured. “There was aggressiveness on both sides,” he said. “They’re both victims and they have children involved and we’re trying to be very cautious of that.”
The couple appeared together in court on Monday holding hands and appealing for the judge to dismiss the charges. Brickell, 47, told the judge that her 72-year-old husband was “no threat to me at all,” as both asked that no orders of protection be issued. The judge granted that request, and Simon added, “we’re going to go home. We’re going to watch our son play baseball.”
The couple, who were represented by the same attorney, were asked to return to court on May 16th. “These people have had a wonderful life together and they’ve never had these types of problems,” attorney Allan Cramer told reporters. He said the event that led to their arrest was “much less than nothing.”
Simon, 72, is widely known as one half of folk duo Simon and Garfunkel, while Brickell, 48, was lead singer of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. The couple were married in 1992 and have three children. Brickell is Simon’s third wife.
Earlier this year Brickell won a Grammy Award with Steve Martin for best American roots song, for Love Has Come For You. She is due to start touring the US and Canada in May with Martin. Simon has won a total 12 Grammy Awards during his 50-year career. In 2003 he was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
