Bieber off hook after car hits photographer

LOS ANGELES, USA – Los Angeles police investigated Tuesday, June 18, an incident in which a car driven by teen idol Justin Bieber hit a paparazzo, but decided after inquiries that the lensman was at fault, a spokesman said.

Gossip website TMZ said Bieber, 19, was exiting the Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood late Monday when his white Ferrari struck a photographer, who was treated in a hospital with unspecified injuries.

It posted video footage of the incident, in which Bieber is seen getting into the car with a male friend amid a crush of photographers, revving its engine, then driving off, apparently striking a paparazzo in the knee.

The LA Police Department (LAPD) initially said it was looking into the incident.

But LAPD spokesman Bruce Borihanh later said that a preliminary investigation had determined that the photographer “jumped in the street in front of the car.

“It was not a hit and run… It was the pedestrian’s fault,” he said.

It is the latest alleged incident involving Bieber and his car, although in some cases he was not driving the vehicle.

Last May he made headlines after neighbors in his exclusive Calabasas neighborhood, northwest of Los Angeles, accused him of driving recklessly through the area.

Canadian-born chart-topper Bieber has been on a break from his ongoing North American tour. He is expected to announce concert dates for Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region in the next few days. – Rappler.com

Justin Bieber arriving at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards photo from Shutterstock