RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. – Keanu Reeves was behind the wheel of a Porsche that allegedly grazed a celebrity photographer standing in the path of the sports car, investigators said Tuesday.
The photographer fell to the ground and paramedics were called after Reeves' car allegedly struck the man at 7:30 p.m. Monday, said Deputy Ed Hernandez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The photographer, whose name wasn't released, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of unknown injuries, Hernandez said. Reeves, 42, wasn't hurt.
"He grazed a paparazzi standing in front of his Porsche and the man fell to the ground," Hernandez said. It wasn't known how fast the Porsche was traveling at the time.
Reeves, the star of the "Matrix" trilogy, "Speed" and "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," was leaving a parking space in the Avenida Tranquila residential area near Los Verdes County Golf Course about 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, he said.
Reeves' lawyer, Jay Lavely, said Tuesday that the incident "appears to have been brought on more by the actions of the paparazzo than by the actions of Mr. Reeves."
"The paparazzo, who had followed Mr. Reeves to Palos Verdes, was standing in front of Mr. Reeves' car blocking his way when Mr. Reeves got into his car to leave. Mr. Reeves assumed that he would move away when he started to slowly inch the car away from the curb," Lavely said. "If Mr. Reeves' car did accidentally come in contact with the paparazzo, it certainly was not hard enough to injure him in any way or to knock him to the ground. It appeared as if the paparazzo was trying to cause this type of encounter."
The Sheriff's Department was investigating the incident. Lavely said Reeves was cooperating fully with authorities and "will also consider his own legal rights concerning the matter."
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