Update: Depardieu accuses motorist

ACTOR Gérard Depardieu has been accused of punching a driver in the face in a road rage incident on a Paris city centre street near Saint-Sulpice church.

The man filed a complaint with the commissariat accusing him of assault saying scooter rider Depardieu attacked him on Wednesday afternoon in the 6th arrondissement after an overtaking incident.

The man said he and 63-year-old Depardieu had argued after the actor's scooter nearly clipped his car.

Depardieu later counterclaimed against the driver for his bad driving although he admitted that he had punched the man because he had been "very afraid".

Just a year ago Depardieu was thrown off a Dublin flight for urinating in his seat. Earlier, in 2009, he was called in to the 6th arrondissement commissariat for questioning after a motorist accused him of attacking his car.

Photo:Siebbi