Justin Bieber has been accused by a male complainant of a triple threat of attempted robbery, attempted theft and attempted battery. The accuser says the singer lunged at him to try and grab his cellphone to delete photos and video. The claim follows an alleged incident at a restaurant responded to by LAPD officers on Monday night.
Justin Bieber has been accused by a male complainant, alleging the Canadian star lunged at him in an attempt to steal his cellphone and allegedly delete photos and video at a Hollywood eatery on Monday night.
The accuser claims the 20-year-old singer is guilty of attempted robbery, attempted theft and attempted battery.
As we reported earlier, Bieber and back-on girlfriend Selena Gomez , buddy Xavier ‘Lil Za’ Smith and Justin’s bodyguards were at Dave and Buster’s restaurant last night.
News of the couple’s meet came via multiple fans on Twitter on Monday, sharing photos of the couple wearing the same clothes in separate and joint shots , and same surroundings.
( Photo: Bieber and Gomez at Dave & Busters. The sports and arcade eatery is located in the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard at the Hollywood and Highland Center , and opened to the public for the first time on Monday .)
According to TMZ , the accuser claims that after he started taking photos and video footage of Bieber and Gomez, at some point Justin lunged for him — the website adds, “presumably [to] erase the pics and video.”
The site claims the accuser alleged Bieber’s bodyguards held the singer back and therefore the pair didn’t make contact. The police were then apparently called, and it’s claimed Bieber and Gomez left before they arrived.
That version of events is completely different to statements by an LAPD spokeswoman, and witness accounts noted by an NBC Los Angeles reporter .
Officer Sara Faden of the LAPD confirmed to the Los Angeles Times , KTLA5 News , ABC 7 Eyewitness News and other media outlets, that officers went to Dave & Buster’s Hollywood and Highland branch at around 9:30 pm.
This was in response to a report, alleging someone from Bieber’s security team had possibly taken the cellphone of an individual who recorded video footage of the “Baby” singer.
Within a short time of officers arriving on the scene, police determined that the “theft” report was not true, the LA Times reported.
“There’s been no theft, no scuffle and no crime occurred,” Officer Faden also told the outlet, adding that when Bieber’s security guards had asked to see the video, the accuser declined and the police were called.
This appears to clearly contradict the accuser’s claim that Bieber “lunged” at him and had to be held back by bodyguards. By reasonable standards, that would be considered a “scuffle.”
This suggests the accuser did not tell attending police officers about the supposed lunge in his original statement.
So, why has it changed now that he’s talking to TMZ ?
Mail Online previously reported, the spokeswoman said no one was charged or arrested and the incident was a “big lot of nothing.”
More significantly, ABC7 Eyewitness News reported the police said “all parties cooperated with authorities.”
This indicates Bieber and his guards (Gomez may have left by then) were still at the eatery when the LAPD arrived. It specifically contradicts TMZ’s insinuation that Bieber fled.
In addition, witnesses at Dave & Busters reportedly claimed the accuser taunted Bieber and was “out of line,” according to NBC Los Angeles’ Gadi Schwartz — an LA-based journalist who reported the incident online in real time and went to the eatery when Bieber was still on site.
Just went inside Dave and Busters… @justinbieber still inside playing skii ball… One witness says fan out of line pic.twitter.com/q8lAHIxhzN
— Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBCLA) August 26, 2014
Schwartz also posted – then for some reason, deleted – another tweet, in which he wrote that a witness said the accuser taunted Bieber .
According to TMZ , the accuser wants to press charges. The website adds Bieber is being investigated for attempted robbery, theft and battery and it hinges on this alleged “lunging.”
The Inquisitr made the decision not to call the accuser a “fan,” as that description has not been used in LAPD statements. It’s worth noting that not everyone who takes photographs of Bieber may necessarily be a fan. An individual with a cellphone or camera can also be just that.
Bieber is serving two-years probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor vandalism in a house-egging case. Any violation could lead to jail time. A conviction of any of the claims in this new allegation could constitute a violation.
With that in mind, watch a video of a supposed bystander in Dave & Buster’s, who claims he saw Bieber backhand slap a female fan when he allegedly saw her video recording him and Gomez.
The man claims Bieber slapped a female victim (who had a child), when no such person has been mentioned in any police report.
Of this alleged female victim, Gossip Cop reports a source close to Bieber says there is “no truth” to this wild claim.