NEW YORK (May 7, 2009)—Actor Kiefer Sutherland has been charged with assault for allegedly head-butting a fashion designer at a Manhattan nightclub.

New York police said the charges were filed after Sutherland spoke to investigators at a police station in lower Manhattan on Thursday.

The star of Fox television's "24" reported to the precinct house in a Lincoln Town Car alongside his lawyers, but he did not speak to reporters.

The designer, Jack McCollough, claims Sutherland attacked him after an argument, leaving him with a cut on his face.

It's unclear whether the charges will affect his probation status for a drunken-driving conviction in Los Angeles that sent him to jail for 48 days last year.