What you need to know
Aaron Phypers was arrested.
Fipers, 53, was taken from a Los Angeles courtroom and taken into custody on Friday, October 17, two days after the state of California filed a felony warrant against him. The arrest occurred during a break in a hearing regarding ex-wife Denise Richards’ restraining order against him.
“I haven’t seen the criminal complaint yet, but from what I’ve heard, I think it’s similar to the allegations that we’re already fighting and have been proven to be false in domestic violence cases,” Phypers’ attorney Michael Finley tells PEOPLE. “Therefore, we hope that that too will be proven false and that he will be acquitted.”
The judge in the case granted a temporary restraining order against Richards, 54, until Nov. 7, after which he rested for the day.
An eight-page criminal complaint against Fipers was filed in Van Nuys court on Thursday, Oct. 16, according to records obtained by PEOPLE.
Fipers faces criminal charges, including two counts of causing bodily harm to a spouse, cohabitant, fiance, boyfriend, girlfriend, or parent of a child. Two counts of dissuading a witness by force or intimidation. Records show that three of the alleged incidents underlying the charged crimes occurred on January 17, 2022, and one occurred on May 3, 2022.
“When a criminal case is brought, the evidence is not well organized and considered,” Finley said. “Criminal cases are filed and beaten all the time. Just because a case is filed doesn’t mean it will be successful. I personally believe in Aaron, but I don’t believe in Denise or her witnesses. We are pretty confident that we have shown her allegations to be false in the domestic violence case in divorce court.”
Fipers was arrested at the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station near Malibu, California, shortly after 5 p.m. on October 17, and is currently being held on $200,000 bail.
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Earlier this month, Ms Richards said on the stand that her estranged husband had given her “at least three concussions” from physical abuse throughout their marriage. She also claimed that she learned of the incident because Fipers repeatedly used equipment from his wellness center on her after she complained of headaches, “feeling sick” and “nausea.”
Ms Richards told the court that one of the concussions was from an incident on January 17, 2022, and the other occurred between March and May 2022. During that time, Phypers allegedly “slammed me into a concrete wall and hit my head” in the wellness center’s carport, giving her a black eye.
The third concussion, which Richards claims was also detected on equipment at the Fypers facility, allegedly occurred after an altercation at a Chicago hotel in April 2025, during which Richards claimed Richards was “squeezing my head so hard” that he “lifted my head up.” She testified that it “felt like he was crushing my skull.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum also claimed on the stand that her ex-husband “often threatened to throw me out of the windows and balconies” of the hotel. She tearfully argued: “He almost killed me many times.”
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Fipers, who filed for divorce from Richards in July after more than six years of marriage, then took the stand on October 8, denying all of Richards’ claims of abuse.
“I never physically harmed Denise Richards…I never threatened to harm her…I never threatened to kill anyone,” he said.
He also claimed that all previous testimony in Mr Richards’ favor by his neighbor and his cousin was “fabricated”. Phypers added: “A lot of people like to be around stars. They’ll do things for them.”
Fipers also denied causing Richards multiple concussions and said he did not use equipment at Richards’ wellness center to test Richards for concussions, as claimed during his testimony.
–Additional reporting by Brianne Tracy.
