Woody Harrelson allegedly attacked a man who wouldn't stop photographing him and his daughter.

At around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, police were dispatched to the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC, to report an attack on the top deck.

They discovered numerous people there, including the 60-year-old actor – who has three children with wife Laura Louie, Deni, 28, Zoe, 25, and Makani, 15 – and one of his children.

According to police, a man who appeared to be inebriated took photos of Harrelson and his daughter, and Harrelson approached him and urged him to stop and delete the images he'd already taken.

According to a police report, Harrelson got into a verbal altercation with the man who 'lunged towards' him in an attempt to 'grip his neck,' so he hit him 'in the neck in self-defense.'

Witnesses corroborated the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri star's claim, and police told NBC Washington that their comments indicated the attacker was the other man.

The unidentified man who was snapping photos was questioned in his hotel room, and if he is charged, his name will be publicized. The investigation hasn't concluded yet.

Harrelson, who was in town filming The White House Plumbers for HBO, declined to comment on the event.

This isn't the first time the actor has gotten into a spat with a photographer.

He got into a fight with two paparazzi who he claimed had stalked his family during a visit to Martha's Vineyard in 1995 and was later compelled to pay one of them nearly $4,800 (£3,500), while the other, who had filmed the encounter, received only $2 (£1.50).