Cameron Diaz files police report on photographer

By Stone Martindale Sep 20, 2006, 22:50 GMT

Cameron Diaz - a scrapper! © Glenn Harris / Photorazzi

"In Her Shoes" star Cameron Diaz has filed a police report in Los Angeles charging a photographer with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly trying to hit her and boyfriend Justin Timberlake with his car.

"On Sept. 19, just after midnight, Cameron Diaz filed a report with the LAPD," police officer April Harding told People magazine. "The incident happened on the 1600 block of King Road in Hollywood."

According to the actress's report, "Diaz and Justin Timberlake were leaving a friend's home when a photographer hiding in the bushes tried to take a photograph of her," Harding says. "They both then chased the photographer for a short distance.

"The photographer then got into his car and drove toward both (of) them, causing Diaz to jump out of the car's way. She felt the driver was trying to hit both of them, and so she filed the report. She's alleging assault with a deadly weapon, with a vehicle."

Harding continued, "No arrests were made. We currently have no suspects, and the investigation is ongoing."

X17, the photographer's employer, posted a statement on its Web site saying that the photos were taken on a public street and that "the pictures show … at least two people verbally and physically assaulting" the photographer.

In the statement, the agency says the photographer was not trying to hit Diaz with his car but was "attempting to leave what he perceived to be a dangerous situation for him and when he tried to do so, Ms. Diaz and at least one other member of her entourage stood in front of his car in an attempt to entrap him."

According to the agency, "The photographer is currently in the process of filing a complaint against Ms. Diaz and Mr. Timberlake."

Diaz's attorney, Marcy Morris, issued the following statement: "The increasingly aggressive conduct of the paparazzi continues to be a matter of grave concern. There is currently a criminal investigation pending regarding the conduct of the photographers involved in this incident. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time."

This is not the couple's first run-in with paparazzi. In 2004, two photographers sued the pair, charging them with assault and battery for allegedly taunting and attacking them outside the Chateau Marmont.

According to the complaint, Diaz ran at one photographer, hit him in the neck, tripped him and grabbed his camera. Timberlake then allegedly screamed at the photographer as he lay on the ground: "What ... are you going to do, man? I know you are not going to do anything."

The couples publicists maintain the two were  "ambushed by two men, who jumped out of a concealed hiding place on a dark, deserted street late at night. Any actions by Diaz and Timberlake were merely taken in self-defense."