Justin Bieber and one of his bodyguards are being sued by a photographer for assault and battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress after a fight broke out on a Hawaiian beach last year, Billboard reports.
Paparazzo Aja Oxman was photographing Bieber jumping into the ocean on the island of Kauai when he claims the pop star told his bodyguard, Dwayne Patterson, "Go get his memory card and do whatever you have to do to get that card." Oxman alleges Patterson then put him in a chokehold, lifted him up and dropped him onto the hood of a car multiple times, stopping only when another photographer began filming the incident on his phone. Oxman then claims both Bieber and Patterson destroyed his camera, and took his memory card and keys.
Following the incident, Patterson was arrested on suspicion of assault, and later pleaded no contest to criminal property damage and harassment; he paid Oxman $6,000 in restitution, according to CBS News. No charges were filed against Bieber, however, due to lack of evidence.
Patterson was at the center of another lawsuit filed by a TMZ photographer, Manuel Munoz, who claimed the bodyguard chased him, beat him, tried to take his memory card and locked him in a Subway sandwich shop. The incident occurred after Munoz photographed Bieber leaving the SET Nightclub in Miami Beach — later that night, Bieber was arrested for driving under the influence and drag racing.
Earlier this month, Bieber avoided a harsh DUI punishment for the Miami arrest, pleading guilty to two misdemeanors: careless driving and resisting arrest. As penance, Bieber made a $50,000 donation to a Miami children's charity and paid a $500 fine; he'll also have to take part in a private 12-hour anger-management course and watch a series of videos on the dangers of drunk driving.
