Bill Murray
Police say that Bill Murray threw the phones from the roof of a restaurant in Carmel Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

Hollywood superstar Bill Murray threw three fans mobile phones off the roof of a popular celebrity hangout in California, say police. According to officials, the Zombieland actor lost his temper and launched into an angry tirade at the Vesuvio lounge in the upmarket seaside town of Carmel on the Pacific coast on Thursday 11 February.

According to police, the 65-year-old became irate after star-struck patrons took his photo. Reports suggest Murray was not drinking at the time of the fracas. The Italian restaurant is a well-known celebrity hangout . Singer Justin Timberlake was hosting a party at the venue later that same evening.

Murray has been hard at work in the past year filming a reboot of the Ghostbusters epic that is now in post-production. The legendary actor played zany parapsychologist Dr Peter Venkman, in both the 1984 original movie and its follow-up five years later.

Carmel police commander Paul Tomasi told Sky News: "At approximately 10.30pm last night police were called to a disturbance at Vesuvio restaurant. When we got there we had three people who were reporting that the subject, identified as Mr Murray, had taken their cell phones and thrown them.

"Two of the phones went off the top of the building and were lost. One of them landed on a cushion. This morning our officers contacted representatives of Mr Murray. He acknowledged that he was there and said he is willing to replace the property that was damaged."

The police commander added that no further action will be taken against the Lost in Translation star since the owners of the phones do not wish to press charges. He also said that the trio had initially denied taking photos of the actor.

Surprisingly, the owners of the phones said that when they ran down to the street witnesses informed them that someone had pulled up in a car and taken the handsets, said Mr Tomasi. According to TMZ the owners of the restaurant are considering changing their phone policy to no pictures or videos as celebrities often go there.