(REUTERS) – A 23-year-old man, accused of attacking comedian, Dave Chappelle during a performance,
was charged, on Thursday, with four misdemeanour criminal counts after the city’s district attorney
declined to bring more serious charges.

Isaiah Lee, who was subdued after tackling Chappelle, 48, to the stage floor on Tuesday evening, was
charged by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office with battery, possession of a weapon with intent to
assault and two other misdemeanour counts.

“This alleged attack has got to have consequences,” City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a videotaped
message.

Feuer announced the misdemeanour charges just hours after the city’s top prosecutor, District Attorney
George Gascon, declined to prosecute Lee. A spokesman for Gascon said a review of the evidence did not
show felony conduct.

Under California law, a misdemeanour carries a maximum sentence of one year in county jail. In Los
Angeles, Feuer’s office prosecutes misdemeanours while the district attorney is responsible for felony
cases.

Police say Chappelle was performing at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday when Lee rushed at the
comedian, knocking him to the ground. Lee was subdued near the back of the stage as he sought to flee.
Chappelle returned to the stage after a short break and went on with the show, ad-libbing jokes about the
incident. He did not appear to be injured.

The performer’s representatives said, on Wednesday, that he was fully cooperating with the police
investigation.

“As unfortunate and unsettling as the incident was, Chappelle went on with the show,” his spokesperson,
Carla Sims, said in a statement on Wednesday, crediting Chris Rock and fellow comedian-actor, Jamie
Foxx with helping to “calm the crowd.”

The attack sparked comparisons to a bizarre incident during the Academy Awards ceremony in March at
which actor, Will Smith smacked comic, Chris Rock onstage, apparently over a joke about his wife, Jada
Pinkett Smith.

Rock joined Chappelle onstage a short time after the attack, took the microphone and quipped, “Was that
Will Smith?”