AceShowbiz -

How can a telephone get an actor into a trouble? When the actor couldn't get a line then it would. This happens to Australian actor Russell Crowe who was arrested for assault Monday morning in New York after allegedly throwing a telephone at a hotel employee.

Crowe was so mad because he couldn't get a line to wife Danielle Spencer in Australia and the hotel's management, Mercer Hotel in Mahattan's posh SoHo district, gave no response at all. Shortly after he reached the front desk and took his frustration out by allegedly hurling said phone at the clerk, "hitting him in the face and causing a laceration and substantial pain."

As a result of the incident, the clerk was taken to nearby St. Vincent's hospital where he was treated for minor cuts to his cheek and released. Crowe, in relation with the case, was arraigned on charges of second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, because of which he's now facing seven years in prison.