Tom Sizemore arrested over domestic violence claims

Actor Tom Sizemore has been arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence, a setback to his attempt at a comeback, following a career derailed by alcohol and drug addiction, abuse allegations, and imprisonment.

Sizemore, famed for his portrayals of gruff tough guys in movies like Heat and Black Hawk Down, was arrested at a downtown Los Angeles apartment.

The actor plays a recurring character on the upcoming television series, Shooter, an adaptation of a book and film about a marksman drawn into a conspiracy to assassinate the US president.

Sizemore became a star in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with acclaimed appearances in Saving Private Ryan and Heat. However, his substance dependency devastated his movie career, left him homeless, sent him to jail (from August 2007 to January 2009) and led to a failed suicide attempt.

His comeback started after he wrote the candid book, By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There: A Memoir, about his recovery.

Sizemore previously said his dependency was success. He started with alcohol, then went on to take cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth.

In 2003, he was convicted of assault and battery on his ex-girlfriend, Heidi Fleiss, who testified that the actor punched her in the jaw at the Four Seasons Hotel, in Beverly Hills.

Fleiss, a former Hollywood madam, convicted in 1994 of running a high-priced call-girl ring, also accused Sizemore of beating her so badly, in New York, that they could not attend the premiere of Black Hawk Down.

After his conviction, Sizemore denied he abused Fleiss and he accused her of faking a picture of her bruises.