Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen Arrested for Domestic Assault
UPDATE: Donald Fagen will not be immediately charged with assault after a physical altercation with his wife, according to the Wrap. Fagen agreed to enter into an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, which allows charges to be dismissed if the singer stays out of legal trouble for a year.
Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen was arrested at his New York City home Monday night after a physical altercation with his wife, musician Libby Titus. A New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed to Rolling Stone that Fagen was charged with misdemeanor assault.
“[Titus] and Fagen were involved in a verbal dispute, at which point he grabbed her by the arm and pushed her,” the spokesperson says. “She fell, bruising her arm.”
A representative for Fagen declined to comment.
Fagen was released Tuesday morning without bail after his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court. Per The New York Post, Fagen was also issued an order of protection to keep away from Titus.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by the paper, Fagen allegedly pushed Titus into a marble window frame, “causing her to fall onto the frame and suffer bruising and swelling to her right arm, as well as substantial pain.”
Fagen and Titus married in 1993. They met while attending Bard College in the mid-Sixties, during which time Fagen also co-founded Steely Dan with guitarist Walter Becker. The group has not released an album since 2003’s Everything Must Go, but continues to tour regularly.
Titus has also had a fruitful music career, releasing a handful of solo albums and collaborating with a variety of artists and producers including Paul Simon, Phil Ramone, Robbie Robertson, Burt Bacharach and Carly Simon. Titus also helped Fagen produce the New York Rock and Soul Revue — a series of concerts featuring an array of top musicians — from 1989 to 1992.