LOS ANGELES – Authorities investigating a car crash involving actress Lindsay Lohan (search) said Wednesday that contrary to reports from some witnesses, paparazzi had nothing to do with the collision.
Lohan, 19, and a female passenger sustained minor injuries Tuesday after the actress's black Mercedes-Benz convertible collided with a van on a busy West Hollywood street.
The crash occurred because the driver of the van made a U-turn in front of Lohan, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The van's driver may be cited, he added.
"She happens to be an innocent victim in all of this," Whitmore said. "The paparazzi, as far as we can tell, have nothing to do in terms of the accident."
Witnesses said Lohan was shopping at a clothing store and was confronted by dozens of photographers who swarmed her car a short time before the crash.
The syndicated television show "Access Hollywood" identified the van driver as Raymundo Ortega, 40, a busboy at a Beverly Hills eatery. Ortega told the show that he was treated for minor injuries.
Lohan, the star of such films as "Mean Girls" (search) and "Herbie: Fully Loaded," was involved in a May 31 traffic accident when she tried to evade a photographer who collided with her. The photographer was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly crashing his car deliberately into Lohan's.
That incident spurred passage of a bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (search) that calls for steep financial penalties for paparazzi who commit assaults while trying to obtain celebrity photos. The law takes effect Jan. 1.
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