Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen arrested in domestic assault case

Donald Fagen, half of the core duo behind the venerable jazz-pop group Steely Dan, was arrested Monday evening on charges of misdemeanor assault.

A New York Police Department spokesman told Newsday on Tuesday that Fagen, who turns 68 on Sunday, was apprehended at 6:16 p.m. after a “verbal dispute” with his wife, singer-songwriter Libby Titus. Fagen allegedly “grabbed her by the arm and pushed her and she fell, bruising her arm on a window frame,” the spokesman said, noting, “No weapons were used and there was no serious physical injury.”

Fagen was released on his own recognizance Tuesday morning.

He and Titus both attended Bard College in the 1960s but were only acquaintances then. After meeting again years later, they married in 1993. Titus formerly was the longtime partner of Levon Helm of The Band, with whom she had singer Amy Helm, Fagen’s stepdaughter.

As Steely Dan, Fagen and Walter Becker were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.