Shia LaBeouf pleads not guilty to battery and theft

Shia LaBeouf has pleaded not guilty to battery and petty theft following an alleged altercation in Los Angeles in June.

The Transformers star is accused of getting into an argument with a man earlier this summer, during which he allegedly took off the man's cap and left the scene with it, prompting him to file a police report. After officers investigated, they decided to charge the star, determining he was the aggressor.

Now Shia has entered his plea in the case, with a representative for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office telling ET that "defence counsel appeared without Mr. LaBeouf" to plead not guilty to the misdemeanour charges.

The case will be heard on 20 January.

The 34-year-old actor has a chequered history with the law, including a 2014 arrest in New York City for disorderly conduct that led him to seek treatment for alcoholism, and a 2017 arrest in Georgia for public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and obstruction.

He appeared to have got his life back on track following the arrest in Georgia, having embraced sobriety and won awards and acclaim for his script for Honey Boy - a movie based on his experiences as a child actor.

He told The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast last year that he felt "deep shame" after his 2017 arrest, and when he entered rehab, he realised he was struggling with more than alcoholism.

"It was the first time I was told I had PTSD. I had just thought I was an alcoholic," he said. "The stuff that's in Honey Boy comes out of these exposure therapy sessions."