BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Actor Omar Sharif has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from an alleged attack on a parking-lot attendant.

The “Lawrence of Arabia” star did not attend his arraignment in a Beverly Hills courthouse and is reportedly in Europe. His attorney Harland Braun entered the not-guilty plea in his absence and confirmed that the actor will be present for a Jan. 10 pretrial hearing.

The arraignment came nearly six months after police were called to a pricey Beverly Hills steakhouse, where the 73-year-old actor allegedly struck parking attendant Juan Anderson after the valet refused to accept payment in euros.

Anderson, 48, filed suit against Sharif in October for assault and battery, violation of his civil rights, and infliction of emotional distress.

Sharif allegedly emerged drunk and belligerent from Mastro’s Steakhouse after spending $500 on dinner with friends and became irate as he waited for his champagne-colored Porsche Cayenne, according to the suit.

Anderson claims that when he refused to accept the valet fee in euros, Sharif punched him repeatedly with a closed fist, called him a “stupid Mexican,” and then, when he learned police had been called, offered Anderson $50 to pretend the attack did not happen.

Sharif’s attorneys say Anderson is trying to turn a slap in the face into a full-fledged hate crime to make a profit off their famous client.

“This is just another case of Hollywood extortion,” Braun told Courttv.com.

A police report indicates that Sharif called police three days after the June 12 incident, apologizing for his behavior and hoping to settle the incident amicably with Anderson. He also admitted that he drank some wine and slapped the valet on the nose, but denied being drunk or punching anyone, according to the report.

A Beverly Hills police department spokesman confirmed that there was no indication of racial slurs in the incident report, and that Anderson did not express a desire to press charges until after the civil suit was filed four months later by his new attorney, John Carpenter.

Carpenter says he provided the district attorney’s office with a witness statement from a Mastro’s customer, who was at the scene and confirmed the actor’s bad-boy behavior and racial slurs.

But Braun said the valet has changed counsel at least twice, hoping to get a bigger payday out of the incident.

“I know the difference between a civil settlement and extortion,” Braun said, explaining that Carpenter recently sent a “bill” for more than a half-million dollars to Sharif’s civil attorney Martin Singer.

Carpenter confirmed that he sent a formal demand for payment of $500,000 in damages to Sharif’s attorney.

“We also demanded a written apology to Mr. Anderson,” Carpenter told Courttv.com. “The point is that when you have someone like Omar Sharif who has beaten three people in three years and has no remorse … we think $500,000 is sufficient enough so this doesn’t happen again next year.”

Carpenter said his client is a hardworking and polite father of two who has become another in a string of victims who have endured Sharif’s violent behavior.

In July 2003, Sharif head-butted a plainclothes French policeman at a casino after screaming insults at a croupier when he lost thousands of dollars on a single roulette bet. He also was allegedly involved in an altercation at a restaurant in India a year later, according to press reports.

“This is further evidence that he’s fully without remorse,” Carpenter told Courttv.com. “He did it. He denies it. He denies it even happened. He insults my client and that’s the way he’s dealing with it. I’m very happy he’s being prosecuted.”