Justin Bieber Calls for Anti-paparazzi Laws after Photographer is Killed
By: NBC News
Updated: January 2, 2013
Pop superstar Justin Bieber called for new laws cracking down on paparazzi Wednesday after a celebrity photographer was struck and killed by a passing motorist as he tried to shoot photos of Bieber's white Ferrari in Los Angeles.
The photographer, a man in his late 20s whom police wouldn't identify until they can notify his next of kin, was pronounced dead at UCLA Medical Center shortly after he was run over about 5:30 p.m. local time Tuesday, police said.
Authorities confirmed that Bieber, 18, wasn't in the Ferrari. It was being driven by a friend, whom they wouldn't identify, and it wasn't involved in the accident, police said.
The incident took place after a California Highway Patrol officer flagged the Ferrari for speeding on the northbound lanes of Interstate 405, said Madeline Nightingale, watch commander of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Traffic Bureau. The car then exited at Sepulveda Boulevard and Getty Center Drive, she told NBC News.
During the traffic stop, the photographer crossed the busy Sepulveda thoroughfare, which runs parallel to the 405, and tried to shoot photos of the vehicle's occupants from a perch on the narrow divider, she said.
The Highway Patrol officer on the scene repeatedly warned the man that his position was dangerous, she said. The man was then struck by a car traveling southbound on Sepulveda, Nightingale said.
No charges were expected to be filed against the motorist, who stopped and tried to administer assistance, Nightingale told NBC News. The driver was a woman with two young children in the vehicle, Nightingale said.
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