New York, Dec 12 : An Iraq war veteran with a history of mental woes, who turned up thrice at Tom Cruise’s Beverly Hills home, has been ordered by a California judge to stay away from the actor.

Edward Van Tassel’s lawyer Robert Landheer said that the 28-year-old was carrying a book written by the late Bruce Lee and a handwritten letter, imploring Cruise to help in the fight for veterans'' rights.

"I reach out to you as a fan and maybe someday as a friend. The soldiers NEED your ASSISTANCE," The New York Daily News quoted the letter as saying.

Van Tassel hit headlines last month when, while wearing a mask, he shut down Highway 101 by waving a handgun and an American flag on a freeway overpass in Santa Barbara, California.

He was arrested three hours after the incident, in which he pleaded not guilty and was sent to a veterans'' facility rather than held on bail.

But he managed to slip out of the facility thrice and showed up at Cruise''s home, said the actor''s private investigator. (ANI)