ALBAWABA - Aaron Phypers has been arrested.
On Friday, Oct. 17, two days after the State of California issued a criminal warrant against Phypers, 53, he was taken from a courtroom in Los Angeles and put in jail. During a break at a meeting about his ex-wife Denise Richards' restraining order against him, he was arrested.
"I have not seen the criminal complaint yet; however, based upon the little that I have been told, it appears to be the same allegations we're already fighting and I think proving to be false in the domestic violence case," Phypers' lawyer tells PEOPLE. "So, we expect it to also be proven false and for him to be exonerated."
(L-R) Aaron Phypers and Denise Richards (Photo by Leon Bennett / Getty Images via AFP)
Richards, 54, was given a temporary protection order that was extended until November 7. She will now rest for the day.
Records that PEOPLE received show that Phypers was charged with a crime on Thursday, October 16, at the Van Nuys Courthouse. The complaint was eight pages long.
He is being charged with two counts of hurting a husband, cohabitant, fiancé, boyfriend, girlfriend, or child's parent, as well as two counts of intimidating or forcing a witness to lie. Three of the claimed events that led to the charges happened on January 17, 2022, and one happened on May 3, 2022.
"When a criminal case is filed, the evidence has not been fully laid out and considered," he says. "People are charged with crimes all the time, and they are beaten. It doesn't mean that a case will win just because it was filed. Aaron is someone I trust, but I don't trust Denise or her witnesses. In the divorce court case concerning domestic abuse, we are confident that we have proven her to be dishonest.
The Los Hills Sheriff's Station, which is near Malibu, California, booked Phypers just after 5 p.m. on October 17. He is being held on $200,000 bail at this time.
Earlier this month, Richards said in court that her ex-husband had abused her physically and "caused me at least three concussions" during their marriage. She also said that she found out about them because Phypers reportedly used equipment at his wellness center on her several times after she complained of headaches, "not feeling good," and "feeling sick."
(L-R) Aaron Phypers and Denise Richards (Photo by Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images via AFP)
There were two concussions, Richards said in court. The first one happened on January 17, 2022, and the second one happened between March and May 2022. He is said to have given her a black eye when he "slammed me up against the concrete wall and my head hit it" in the carport at his health center at that time.
Richards said that the third concussion was also found on Phypers' equipment. It is said to have happened after a fight in an April 2025 Chicago hotel, where she said he "picked my head up" and "was squeezing my head so hard." "It felt like he was crushing my skull," she said in court.
That woman who used to be on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills also said that her ex-boyfriend "would often threaten to throw me through the windows and off balconies” of hotels. "He's almost killed me so many damn times," she said through tears.
When Phypers went on the stand on Oct. 8, he rejected all of Richards' abuse claims. After being married to Richards for more than six years, he filed for divorce in July.
"I never hurt Denise Richards physically..." I never said I would hurt her... He said, "I did not say I would kill anyone."
He also said Richards' defense witnesses, a neighbor and cousin, were "made up." He also stated, "Many people enjoy being in close proximity to the stars." "They'll help them out."
Phypers said he neither gave Richards multiple concussions nor used tools from his wellness center to check her for one, as she claimed in court.
