I used to think Nicolas Cage was kind of interesting, in a “He sold his soul to the Devil (Bruckheimer) but he’s still kind of damaged and hot” way. Then he got hair plugs and starting buying lots of bizarre stuff and he married a teenager. I still believe the dude is damaged, but his hotness is nil and what I thought was simply a bizarre “streak” is just his train wreck personality. I guess what I’m saying is that this news doesn’t surprise me: early this morning (Saturday), Nicolas was arrested in New Orleans. Nic and his wife Alice have a home in NOLA, but he was arrested on the street, somewhere in town. He was arrested for one count of domestic abuse and count of disturbing the peace. Do you know how completely off-your-head drunk you have to be to be arrested for disturbing the peace in New Orleans? Like, Nicolas must have been blitzed out of his mind. Here’s what went down:

Sources close to Nicolas Cage tell TMZ … Nic was arrested in New Orleans this morning after daring the police to arrest him following a loud argument with his wife.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … Nic was “very drunk” on the streets of N.O. when a cab driver saw him loudly arguing with his wife Alice.

We’re told the cabbie called the police and said in addition to the screaming and yelling … he saw Nic grab her.

We’re told the police came and told Nic and his wife to just go home. That’s when Nic allegedly told cops, “Why don’t you just arrest me?” The cops then reiterated that he and his wife should just go home. Cage then repeated his dare to cops.

At that point, police took Nic into custody and charged him with …domestic abuse and disturbing the peace.

Our sources say Nic is still in custody and a bail hearing will he held shortly.

We’re also told Nic’s wife is not a complaining witness and does not want him charged — and says there was no physical contact.

UPDATE 10:27 AM PT — A bond has been set at $11,000.

[From TMZ]

Yeah, it doesn’t really sound like he “beat” Alice, only that he grabbed her, perhaps with some force. I’m not saying it’s any better or worse, but it is different. I’m not a wife-beating apologist (I hope you guys know me by now enough to say that I am definitely not), but right now it just sounds like a pretty typical argument between two really drunk people. My guess is that the abuse charge will be dropped and Nic will end up just being charged with disturbing the peace or whatever.

UPDATE: People Magazine has more details about this story. According to the New Orleans police spokesperson, “Cage and his wife were standing in front of a residence that he insisted was the property the couple was renting. She disagreed, and Cage grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her to what he believed was the correct address. There were no visible signs of injury on his wife’s arm. The actor then began striking vehicles and later attempted to get into a taxi. At that point, an officer who had been flagged down by onlookers drove up on the couple, immediately observed that Cage was heavily intoxicated and ordered him out of the cab, which prompted Cage to start yelling. The officers subsequently took Cage to Central Lock-up.” Another inmate who was in jail at the same time also tells People Mag that Nicolas was “drunk” but that the NOLA police officers didn’t keep him with the other inmates: “He wasn’t in a cell, he was behind the counter with all the other officers.” Meanwhile, TMZ reports an eyewitness account of Cage wandering into a tattoo parlor and “began throwing his clothes around, demanding to get inked up….Nic seemed quite intoxicated and asked employees to call the cops. When they asked why, Cage replied … he just didn’t remember where he lived.”

Photos courtesy of WENN.