Jefferson Siegel/The New York Daily News

ABC News' Linsey Davis, Anna Wild and Ross Eichenholz report:

When push came to shove for Alec Baldwin to make it through a throng of photographers, push, quite literally, came to shove.

The "30 Rock" actor got into an altercation with a New York Daily News photographer on Tuesday morning after he and his fiancée, Hilaria Thomas, went to pick up their marriage license in Manhattan. This was the unfortunate end to what should have been a happy occasion for Baldwin.

"[Baldwin] Just started punching me, pushing me. I say stop, stop. Don't touch me," said photographer Marcus Santos.

Santos filed an assault complaint against Baldwin before heading to the hospital to be examined for injuries the photographer says were inflicted by the star. In an interview with ABC News, he later said he was resting, taking painkillers and has consulted a lawyer.

"I was far away, he lunged at me…like raging bull," added Santos.

Santos' lawyer Sanford Bernstein told ABC News he expects to meet with his client and prosecutors on Wednesday.

A Baldwin spokesman said Tuesday that it was the actor who was the one targeted and assaulted by the photographer, who was "aggressively trying to shoot" him and his fiancée. The statement said that as a civilian tried to block his shot, the photographer "was clearly frustrated, pushed past the bystander and assaulted Alec with his camera. There were no punches thrown, and any subsequent physical contact was simply Alec protecting himself."

Baldwin took to Twitter follow the incident and tweeted "A 'photographer' almost hit me in the face with his camera this morning." The tweet ended with this hash tag: "?#allpaparazzishouldbewaterboarded."

Then, Baldwin tweeted this reference to the fatal shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin: "I suppose if the offending paparazzi was wearing a hoodie and I shot him, it would all blow over."

"It's clear that they're kind of angry ramblings," said Howard Bragman, public relations expert with Reputation.com. "In this case the picture is much more powerful than Twitter."

Baldwin continued to rant on Twitter and concluded one Tweet with the hash tag, "#no1punchedany1."

Baldwin, 54, reportedly took to the streets later in the day wearing a blanket over his head to prevent any further fisticuffs with the paparazzi.