Woman says she was traumatized by Lohan
Updated: 2008-01-10 09:47
A woman who was in the car that Lindsay Lohan chased before being arrested says the incident caused emotional trauma and cost her thousands of dollars in doctors' bills and a well-paying job.
Tracie Rice was in a car driven by Michele Peck, the mother of Lohan's assistant who had recently quit, when Lohan trailed them to the Santa Monica Police Department headquarters during a pre-dawn July chase. Peck told police she was being chased by a sport utility vehicle, and police later determined Lohan was the driver.
In August, Rice filed a lawsuit against Lohan for emotional distress. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and payment of medical and other expenses related to emotional distress.
According to papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in late December, Rice spent about $7,000 on medical bills, including a therapist who charges $175 per visit, and lost her $60,000 per year job because of the incident.
Rice said she thought she was being carjacked when an SUV, driven by Lohan, pursued them at high speed, putting her and Peck "at extreme risk of death or injury," until they arrived at the police station and were met by officers with guns drawn.
Calls to Lohan's attorneys after business hours Tuesday were not immediately returned.
Lohan served 84 minutes in jail on Nov. 15 as part of a plea deal on misdemeanor drunken-driving and cocaine possession charges.
Lohan is facing another lawsuit because of an October 2005 accident that injured a busboy, Raymundo Ortega, who is seeking $200,000 in damages for negligence from Lohan and The Ivy, the trendy Beverly Hills restaurant where she ate before the June crash.
In September, Ortega's attorney, Robert G. Klein, asked the court to amend the lawsuit to include Lohan's company, Crossheart Productions Inc., because it owns the vehicle she was driving. But in papers filed last month in Los Angeles Superior Court, Klein dropped that part of the lawsuit.
Lohan spent about two months at a drug and alcohol treatment program in Utah last year.
She was videotaped taking a swig from a bottle of champagne at a New Year's Eve party in Capri, Italy.
Her attorney later said the 21-year-old called her sponsor immediately and recommitted herself to staying sober.
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