Paparazzo tipped off police

2008-10-02 09:59

Los Angeles - A photographer who called authorities to report actress Heather Locklear allegedly driving erratically runs a paparazzi agency and profited from images she took of the actress's subsequent arrest, the woman's attorney said on Wednesday.

But Nicholas Tepper, who represents photographer Jill Ishkanian, said in a written statement that her phone call to authorities was motivated by "civic duty" and a concern for Locklear's safety.

He also defended Ishkanian's right to then take photos of the arrest.

"The fact she witnessed Ms Locklear's erratic driving and reported it to the police did not mean she was disqualified from reporting the story, which she in fact did," Tepper wrote.

He said Ishkanian then sold the photos to celebrity gossip site TMZ for $27 000 - but did it through a third party, KM Press Group, because her standing in the industry has been damaged by a lawsuit against her former employer, US Weekly.

Alerted paparazzi of arrest

In its postings this week, TMZ questioned whether Ishkanian was "up to no good" and claimed she alerted fellow paparazzi to Locklear's impending arrest.

TMZ head Harvey Levin said on Wednesday that the owner of KM Press Group has repeatedly told him that one of the agency's photographers snapped the photos and that Ishkanian called to tip him off to Locklear's arrest.

Tepper said Ishkanian had been visiting family and friends in the Montecito area when she spotted Locklear's car driving erratically on Saturday afternoon, called authorities and was advised by a dispatcher to stop following the car.

But Levin said some of the pictures appear to be taken well before Locklear's arrest, and questioned Tepper's contention that Ishkanian just happened to run into her acting erratically at a market. At least one of the photos shows Locklear coming out of a shop.

Tepper initially said Ishkanian took all the photos after phoning authorities. But when pressed about the image of Locklear appearing to leave a store, he said he wasn't sure about the sequence that the photos were taken in, only that Ishkanian shot them all.

Alcohol ruled out

Levin said he did not consider the photos tainted. "Ultimately, these are photographs of an arrest."

The California Highway Patrol (CHP), which would not confirm the identity of the caller, said she didn't identify that the driver was Locklear, but said the actress appeared "drunk" in a market.

The CHP said in a news release that Locklear showed "obvious impairment," but alcohol has been ruled out.

CHP Lieutenant Dane Lobb said on Wednesday that Ishkanian's involvement would not change what was going forward as a regular investigation. "We determined (Locklear) was someone who shouldn't be operating a vehicle," he said.

Tepper later said in an interview that Ishkanian also provided authorities with a statement and would testify against Locklear if necessary.

He said Ishkanian sold the photos without disclosing that she was the shooter because of her $55m lawsuit against US Weekly; that suit claims the magazine's employees damaged her career by accusing her of stealing information from company computers.

Tepper added that the US Weekly lawsuit has limited her business, claiming others in the industry refuse to use her material. The magazine is appealing a judge's ruling that refused to dismiss several of Ishkanian's claims.

- AP