Actor Raymond Cruz, 60, was arrested Monday in Los Angeles on suspicion of misdemeanor battery after an incident in which a woman reported he sprayed her daughter with water from a garden hose, police sources and media outlets said.
According to reports citing law enforcement insiders, the incident occurred in the Silver Lake neighborhood early Monday while Cruz was washing his vehicle. A reporting party told authorities that Cruz asked a woman who had parked behind him to move and then sprayed her with water when she did not, and that the water hit her daughter. Cruz was taken into custody and processed at a Los Angeles police station, sources told TMZ and the Daily Mail.
No criminal charges had been filed as of Monday afternoon, and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office was expected to determine whether to prosecute the matter as a misdemeanor, the reports said. Misdemeanor battery in California typically involves the willful and unlawful use of force or violence on another person; the reports did not indicate whether prosecutors had opened a file or whether additional evidence had been collected.
Cruz, a Los Angeles native, has played a number of high-profile roles, most notably Tuco Salamanca on television series including Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He also appeared as a sniper in the 2001 film Training Day and has continued to work in film and television, including appearing in a 2023 Super Bowl commercial.
Representatives for Cruz did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Los Angeles Police Department and the City Attorney’s Office declined to provide details beyond routine booking and processing information, citing the ongoing nature of the inquiry, according to the reports.
The reports stem from law enforcement sources and tabloid outlets that first published details of the arrest. The accounts are consistent in placing the incident in Silver Lake and describing Cruz’s detention and processing by police, but they differ on whether any formal filing had been made by late Monday.
If the City Attorney pursues the case, it would move through the local misdemeanor process rather than county felony court. Misdemeanor battery convictions can carry penalties including fines, probation and potential jail time, depending on the circumstances and any prior record; media reports did not indicate whether any citations or additional complaints were filed.
The Los Angeles police department publishes arrest and booking logs that may later reflect official charges, and prosecutors will determine whether to file charges after reviewing police reports and any available evidence. The incident adds to a pattern of public scrutiny around the private conduct of several well-known performers, though no past allegations or legal actions involving Cruz were cited in the initial reports.