This is a rush transcript from "The Big Story With John Gibson and Heather Nauert," December 17, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
HEATHER NAUERT, CO-HOST: Tonight, TV anchors are supposed to report the news, not make the news. But last night, a Philadelphia woman was arrested for assaulting a police officer. Alycia Lane, co-anchor of the evening news on CBS affiliate KYW-TV stands accused of punching a female cop in the face.
BILL HEMMER, GUEST CO-HOST: That's the acquisition out there: Lane is the same TV anchor who made headlines back in May for emailing racy photos of herself to a married sports caster, Rich Icen. Big Story correspondent, Douglas Kennedy has more on this news-making newswoman.
Douglas, good evening.
DOUGLAS KENNEDY, FOX CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she made news in New York City, and now she may not be able to report the news in Philadelphia, at least not for the next couple weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALYCIA LANE, TV ANCHOR: I'm Alicia Lane. Right now, there is a winter storm warning.
DOUGLAS KENNEDY, BIG STORY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Alycia Lane is a popular anchor on Philadelphia's CBS KYTW-TV and recently introduced this report on commuter flirting.
LANE: How would you like to spend some of that time flirting in traffic?
KENNEDY (voice over): But New York City police say Lane wasn't flirting Saturday morning when she punched a New York City cop after a traffic altercation in the west village.
DANIEL MCQUADE, PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY: Their taxi was stopped, and she just seemed to just like lose it and go right after this police officer.
KENNEDY: According to The New York Post which featured Lane on the front page under the headline "Anchor Rage," Lane was upset an undercover police officer wasn't driving fast enough." "I don't care that you're a cop," the irate anchor reportedly screamed along with a number of obscenities and insults.
Lane was reportedly in the car with her boyfriend, Chris Booker, a former Howard Stern sidekick and current DJ for Q-102 in Philadelphia. A police report on the incident states: "Defendant's strike caused officer to sustain two lacerations to officer's face and caused swelling."
DANIEL MCQUADE, THE PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY: That's pretty serious. That's a pretty good punch for you know, TV news anchor.
KENNEDY: And this isn't the first time Lane has found herself in the nation's gossip log.
Last May according to The Post's Page Six, Lane emailed bikini photos to herself to married NFL anchorman, Rich Icen. Icen's wife, Susie Schuster discovered her provocative poses and sent back a rough reply, "Boy, do you look amazing in a bikini." Shuster wrote. "Whatever you're doing, keep it up."
KENNEDY (on the phone): So, this was a pretty big story in Philly?
MCQUADE: Yes, here in Philadelphia, we don't like real celebrities, so like our TV anchors are sort of our biggest stars.
KENNEDY (voice over): Lane's attorney denies she struck the officer. But KYW says they have the 35-year-old news reader off the air for the foreseeable future. "Alycia was scheduled to begin two weeks of planned vacation time beginning next Monday. Given the circumstances she and station management agreed that it would be best if she began her time off today so that she can handle this pressing situation."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KENNEDY (on camera): And earlier today, I spoke with Lane's lawyer. He says she absolutely did not strike any officer, and he says she didn't call anyone names. He says they are planning to fight any and all charges which at this point; Bill and Heather, includes felony assault on a police officer.
HEMMER: It: could be a very big deal. There are celebrities in Philly, you've got the Eagles, you've got the Philly baseball team.
KENNEDY: And they won today which was helping her off the front page.
HEMMER: What it taken? Big question — did she really do it? Can we say?
KENNEDY: You know, the main evidence against her is going to be the lacerations on the police officer's face, and if those are serious, that's going to be difficult to fight, but it's a "he said-she said," or in this case a "she said-she said" so, a jury would decide, I guess if it goes that far.
NAUERT: Thanks, Douglas.
Content and Programming Copyright 2007 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2007 Voxant, Inc. (www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and Voxant, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox