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Many of you probably awoke this morning with the same, nagging question hanging over your heads: How are things going lately with Lou Diamond Phillips and his live-in girlfriend? We're sad to report, not so great:

Police were called to the actor's home in the 8800 block of Shashone Avenue in Northridge about 1:30 a.m., said Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Martha Garcia.

Officers conducted an investigation and concluded "that an argument escalated to physical abuse had taken place," said Garcia.

We can only hope the actor star and his partner (not the green dominatrix pictured in that photo, to our knowledge, who looks as though she could have delivered a swift and efficient death blow if need be) find a way to reconcile. It would be unfortunate if Phillips' impressive body of work, consisting of La Bamba and, uh, whatever it is he's done since then, were to be tainted by something as public and ugly as a domestic abuse charge.

UPDATE: Phillips was released without charges filed, with his rep explaining, "It was all a misunderstanding." No word yet whether or not dehydration may have played a part in the girlfriend-smacking confusion.