Bieber's B.S.: He Claims Paparazzi Harassed Him During Freeway Chase

By Dennis Romero Mon., Jul. 9 2012 at 7:04 AM

@AngieCrouch

Biebs' Fisker in a traffic stop.

That alleged, 100-mile-per-hour high-speed chase we told you about Friday wasn't all Justin Bieber's fault.

At least that's what he's telling authorities. Bieber filed a "harassment complaint" against one paparazzo who he says was part of the chase, according to TMZ.

According to TMZ's reading of the complaint, filed with the CHP, ...

... the pap's vehicle was aggressively chasing after the teen pop star's chrome Fisker Karma at high speeds Friday morning on the 101 in Sherman Oaks. It even rolled along the shoulder in attempts to get shots, according to allegations laid out in the report.

Apparently Biebs felt harassed and therefore immune from the laws most of the rest of us have to adhere to.

As we told you Friday, an L.A. city councilman who happens to be a reserve LAPD officer, Dennis Zine, said Bieber should have been arrested for what he described as going 100 mph, switching multiple lanes and driving recklessly.

Those things taken together could, in fact, get you handcuffs and a tow, but the CHP decided only to cite Bieber for speeding, according to what an officer told us.

However, a CHP cop did go to a subsequent video shoot Biebs was doing Friday to investigate further and take down his harassment claim, according to TMZ.

The paps who allegedly harassed him was there snapping photos, too, according to the site.

Last time we checked, being chased by paparazzi doesn't entitle you to drive crazy. They're going to get the shot either way, so what's the point? You're a public personality, in public.

We're not sure what the rationale here is: There's no get-out-of-jail-free card for driving that way besides maybe heading to the hospital for a serious emergency or getting away from a gunman. And even then the letter of the law doesn't really give you an out, but many cops would.

Zine, who's no fan of the paparazzi (he was behind an anti-paps law in the state Legislature and proposed another in the City Council), is right on this one.

There's no special speeding permit for the rich and famous.

Next time slow down and let them follow you to the nearest police station, Biebs. Then they're the ones who will be explaining themselves.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

CHP, Dennis Zine, freeway chase, Justin Bieber, paparazzi, speeding, TMZ

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bd girl

I think that Justin did use the correct word "harassment" to describe a band of paps who won't leave you alone. Did that give Justin the right to speed? No, certainly not. Hopefully he will learn from this and next time call 911 right away. CBS 2 posted a comment by an eyewitness that said he saw the Fisker enter the freeway and take off, followed by about 10 other cars. One car almost rear ended his own car, then swung out to drive on the shoulder. It must have been quite a wild scene. When one becomes a celeb in this society, many times he is dehumanized to the extent that the celeb is treated much like a zoo animal. A zoo animal walks out of it's shelter and the public gathers around and stares and stares, watching their every move. This is what the paps (and the public) do to celebs. Do other celebs also have moments of getting upset over their treatment? Why, yes they do. I was on youtube listening to Beatle songs when a video of Paul McCartney and a cameraman popped up. In the video Paul is at an outdoor cafe, and one man sitting at a table is filming Paul with his video camera. Paul walks over and politely asks the man not to film him. THe man ignores Pauls request and keeps filming. Paul comes over again, puts his hand over the camera lens and says "you are harrassing me. Please stop" [yes, Paul called it 'harassment']. When the man still refused to stop, Paul hailed a taxi and left. Fortunately for Paul, this cameraman did not give chase.