Photographer says Alec Baldwin hit him

Alec Baldwin attends The Friars Club and Friars Foundation Honor of Tom Cruise at The Waldorf-Astoria on Tuesday June 12, 2012, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- A New York City news photographer says he was punched by Alec Baldwin outside a marriage license bureau in Manhattan.

The Daily News reports that Marcus Santos was snapping images of the "30 Rock" star with his fiancee Hilaria Thomas Tuesday morning. Santos told the paper that Baldwin grabbed a second news photographer, then started shoving Santos and hit him in the chin. He then walked away.

Santos told the newspaper, "I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming." He claimed the actor shoved him before punching him "one time, right in the chin."

The photographer has gone to a hospital to be examined for injuries.

Photos on the newspaper's website appear to show Baldwin shoving the photographer.

A Twitter message on Baldwin's feed read: "A 'photographer' almost hit me in the face with his camera this morning. #allpaparazzishouldbewaterboarded."

Baldwin later tweeted, "I suppose if the offending paparazzi was wearing a hoodie and I shot him, it would all blow over..."

"As Alec and his fiancee were leaving City Hall, a 'civilian' walking in front of Alec positioned himself to obstruct the view of a photographer aggressively trying to shoot the couple," Matthew Hiltzik said. "The photographer was clearly frustrated, pushed past the bystander and assaulted Alec with his camera. There were no punches thrown, and any subsequent physical contact was simply Alec protecting himself."

A New York Police Department spokeswoman confirmed the allegation was under investigation.

Baldwin was slated to attend an American Heart Association event at the Grand Hyatt tonight and walk the red carpet. The Heart Association says that Baldwin has notified the organization that he will not walk down the carpet, nor will he be available for interviews.

Last year, an American Airlines flight was delayed by Baldwin's refusal to stop playing a cellphone game. Baldwin later asked for forgiveness from fellow passengers but stopped short of apologizing to the airline or the flight attendant he later mocked on Twitter.

(Information from The Associated Press included in this report)

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