Modern Family Star: Ex Abused Me for Years

Modern Family star Sarah Hyland says her ex-boyfriend abused her for the last four years of their five-year relationship and after they broke up, and now she's gotten a temporary restraining order against Matthew Prokop. In court documents obtained by TMZ, Hyland, 23, says Prokop, 24—who himself once appeared on Modern Family—once pinned her against a car and choked her "so tight that I could not breathe or speak," calling her a vile name. She also describes an incident in which he threatened to set one of her homes on fire and says she feared for her life.

Hyland eventually asked Julie Bowen, who plays her TV mom, to come along with her so she could "peacefully end the relationship," but she says that when Prokop arrived at Hyland's home to find Bowen there, he "ran outside into the backyard and began screaming," then threw a lighter at Hyland before Bowen told Hyland to leave because she wasn't safe. After the breakup, which Star says happened late last month, Hyland says Prokop kept threatening her—and after he was released from a stint in rehab on Sunday, she says, the director of the facility warned her that due to his feelings about her and his mental state, she should get a restraining order. (More Matthew Prokop stories.)