Ryan O'Neal Defended Himself Against Son

[Brian Damage]

HOLLYWOOD - Actor Ryan O'Neal was forced to defend himself against his son after he became violent at a house party, the Love Story star's manager insists.

The troubled Hollywood star was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and negligent discharge of a firearm after a fight with his son Griffin on Saturday night.

But Ryan's manager, Neil Hassman, claims the actor was defending himself after his son began "wildly swinging a fireplace poker.”

Hassman claims the dispute came after O'Neal, actress Farrah Fawcett and some friends returned from a dinner celebrating her birthday.

He adds, "It is unfortunate that what should have been an internal family disagreement was escalated to the point that Ryan felt he had to defend himself from Griffin's aggressive, extremely menacing physical behavior."

Griffin O'Neal's pregnant girlfriend was slightly injured in the incident but Hassman maintains that her injuries were caused by the younger O'Neal.

Griffin O'Neal, 42, the son of Ryan and Joanna Moore, has had brushes with the law before and spent 18 days in jail for failing to perform community service ordered by a judge who found him guilty of reckless boating in a 1986 accident that killed the son of film director Francis Ford Coppola.

He also pleaded no contest to a drunken-driving charge in 1989 and in 1992 agreed to spend one year in a live-in drug rehabilitation program after pleading no contest to charges he shot at his estranged girlfriend's unoccupied car.