Identifying Cronin as an officer assigned to the NYPD's movie and TV unit, New York's Daily news quotes Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne as saying Crowe received absolutely no preferential treatment.
"We can't help it if someone is boasting they did something," insists Browne. "But the only different treatment Russell Crowe got was a police escort to the courthouse – and that was for protection."
Browne says there will be no investigation into Crowe's claim.
Both the Daily News and the New York Post, do note, however, that for ordinary detainees, the usual waiting period from arrest to arraignment can take as little as 17 hours – though it's just as likely to be as much as 36 hours. Crowe was in and out in six.
On Monday, Crowe was arraigned on charges of second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The police report said he threw a phone at the concierge at downtown Manhattan's Mercer Hotel, "hitting him in the face and causing a laceration and substantial pain."
The assault charge is punishable by seven years in prison. Crowe – who was released without bail – is due back in court Sept. 14.
