HBO chief arrested in Las Vegas after dispute

HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht addresses questions at the Television Critic's Association Summer press tour in Beverly Hills, in this July 15, 2005 file photo. Albrecht was arrested in Las Vegas on Sunday on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend, the Los Angeles Times reported.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The chairman of the HBO cable television network was arrested in Las Vegas on Sunday on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Police officers saw Chris Albrecht engaged in a "physical confrontation" in the valet parking area outside the MGM Grand hotel shortly after 3 a.m. PDT (1000 GMT), Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Bill Cassell told the newspaper.

Cassell said Albrecht was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of a misdemeanor battery-domestic assault.

Albrecht was at the venue for HBO's broadcast of the World Boxing Council's super-welterweight championship boxing match, in which Floyd Mayweather, Jr defeated Oscar De La Hoya.

Albrecht has been chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc.-owned HBO since July 2002, according to a corporate profile. A former nightclub owner and talent agent, he has been at HBO since 1985, playing an instrumental role in its transformation into a television powerhouse, thanks to such shows as "The Sopranos" and "Entourage."