Man accused of stealing Frances McDormand's Oscar arrested

Best Actress laureate Frances McDormand attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards Governors Ball at the Hollywood & Highland Center [Angela Weiss, AFP]

A man accused of stealing Frances McDormand's best actress Oscar from an official after-party has been arrested, Los Angeles police said on Monday.

Terry Bryant, 47, was taken into custody on a grand theft charge and was being held on $20,000 bond, police spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said.

Bryant was arrested on Sunday night after McDormand's award went missing briefly at the lavish Governor's Ball party in Hollywood, where Academy Award winners have their statuettes engraved.

The Oscar was retrieved and later returned to McDormand.

Bryant posted a video of himself in a tuxedo at the event holding an Oscar statuette and telling other guests he was a winner.

It was not immediately clear in what capacity he was attending the event, but police said he had a ticket.

"After a brief time apart, Frances and her Oscar were happily reunited. They celebrated the reunion with a double cheeseburger from In and Out," McDormand's representative, Simon Halls, said in a statement, referring to a local fast-food chain.

McDormand, 60, won her second acting Oscar for her role as an angry, grieving mother in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."