Britney Spears wasn't behind the wheel this time, but she has attracted
controversy just the same.
A paparazzo who claims he was seriously injured in June 2004 when Spears'
mom, Lynne, allegedly ran over his foot and knocked him down in her small SUV
has sued the pop star and her mother, according to court documents obtained by
TMZ.com.
Spears was reportedly riding in the vehicle at the time with her sister Jamie
Lynn and their mom was driving. The three had just left a Santa Monica pet store
with two little pups in tow. The plaintiff, Cullen Reavley, was one of a number
of photographers who crowded around the ladies as they got into their car, which
belonged to Lynne.
Reavley has said that, as the trio started driving away, they hit him with
their Toyota Scion. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court,
Reavley stated that he suffered injuries to his "head, neck, back, trunk and
extremities, all of which have caused and continue to cause plaintiff great
mental, physical and nervous pain and suffering."
The photographer has asked for an unspecified amount of damages to cover
medical fees, loss of wages and injuries that will result in "permanent
disability," according to the complaint.
At the time in question, police arrived on the scene but did not ticket Lynne
or accuse her of any wrongdoing. A video shot in the parking lot didn't capture
any run-in, but showed Reavley lying on the ground. An ambulance took him to the
hospital, where doctors found swelling but no broken bones.
"If anyone was injured by accident, it was caused by the paparazzi's own
conduct," Spears' management said in a statement following the incident.
Paparazzi, Spears and cars have become a "Toxic" combination of late. When
she was publicly lambasted in February after being spotted driving with her baby
boy in her lap, the 24-year-old singer announced that she was just trying to
keep her son out of the spotlight.
'I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put
both me and my baby in danger," she said in a statement.
Spears, however, may have found a way to keep out of further trouble in
moving vehicles. The expectant mother hired an ex-Navy officer (a midshipman, to
be exact) last month for added protection and assistance when she's out and
about.
Since joining Spears' camp, 28-year-old Perry Taylor has frequently been
referred to by the tabloids as the singer's "manny," but he reportedly isn't on
diaper duty for nine-month-old Sean Preston.
"Actually, he's more of a bodyguard," Taylor's mother, Caroline
Moncure-Taylor, told the Baltimore Sun. "He is physical, active and fun-loving."
Then it sounds as if he's a good match for K-Fed, as well.