Former Home Improvement actor Zachery Ty Bryan finds himself behind bars once again after being arrested alongside his fiancée, Johnnie Faye Cartwright, in Oregon on Saturday.
Latest Arrest and Probation Violation
The 44-year-old former child star is currently being held without bail in Lane County Jail in Eugene. He will remain there until next Wednesday due to a probation violation connected to his domestic violence convictions from 2020 and 2023. His prior three-year probation sentence was not scheduled to end until October 2026.
His fiancée, Johnnie Faye Cartwright, 32, a former jetback instructor, also remains in custody. She faces a charge of DUII (Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants), three counts of reckless endangering, and attempted first-degree assault.
A Troubled History and Young Family
Worryingly, the couple, who became engaged in 2022, are parents to a three-year-old daughter, Kennedy, and two-year-old twins, Parker and Sequoia. This latest incident adds to Bryan's substantial and concerning legal record.
Just in January of this year, the troubled actor was arrested for second-degree domestic violence against an unidentified woman, with whom he also shares children, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
His legal troubles are not new. In 2023, he served seven days in the same Oregon jail and was sentenced to 36 months of supervised probation for a domestic violence incident involving another unidentified woman. Going further back, in 2020, a court ordered the Colorado native to attend a batterer intervention programme following domestic violence charges.
A Pattern of Legal Issues and Personal Reflection
Bryan's rap sheet extends beyond domestic violence. It includes DUI arrests in Arapaho, Oklahoma, in October 2024 and La Quinta, California, in February 2024.
As recently as July, an unidentified ex-girlfriend was granted a five-year restraining order after accusing the former sitcom star of physical abuse, though no criminal charges were filed in that instance.
In a statement to TMZ on November 11, Bryan reflected on his struggles. "Being thrust into the spotlight at nine years old brought pressures I wasn't equipped to handle," he said. "But that's no justification for my choices as an adult." The nineties teen idol, who admitted to starting drinking at age 14, stated he understands that "domestic violence in any form is unacceptable" and claims to be embarking on "a journey toward personal growth."
He further explained, "The truth is, I've struggled with the lasting effects of early fame, addiction, and poor decision-making, which have hurt people I care about and led to repeated legal issues, including DUIs and past domestic incidents." He referred to the latest situation involving the restraining order as a "painful wake-up call."
Beyond his immediate family with Cartwright, Bryan is also a father to four other children from his 12-year marriage to Carly Matros: twin daughters Gemma and Taylor, 11; daughter Jordana, 9; and son Pierce, 6. Matros filed for divorce in 2020.
His professional life has also been marred by controversy. The Hollywood Reporter published an exposé in 2023 accusing Bryan of running a fraudulent agriculture-technology start-up scheme, allegedly earning $50,000. He hasn't landed an acting role since a minor part in Netflix's The Guardians of Justice in 2022. Bryan first found fame playing Brad Taylor, Tim Allen's onscreen son, in all eight seasons of the hit ABC sitcom Home Improvement from 1991 to 1999.
