Thursday, 10 January 2008

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Lindsay Lohan sued by DUI chase passenger

Victim claims damages for emotional distress

The woman being chased by Lindsay Lohan before the star's notorious DUI arrest last July wants her day in court.

According to papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in late December and obtained by the Associated Press, Tracie Rice was in a vehicle pursued by Lohan and driven by Michele Peck, the mother of Lohan's recently resigned assistant.

Rice is seeking damages amid claims that because of the pre-dawn incident she has had to shell out $7,000 in medical expenses, including those to a $175-per-visit therapist. She also says she lost her $60,000-per-year job.

In her papers, Rice says that $3,500 has been spent with the therapist in dealing with her residual terror. She also saw a physician, a chiropractor and a pharmacist – and paid roughly $150 for prescriptions. An additional $2,000 was said to be paid in miscellaneous expenses.

Rice states she thought she was being carjacked when an SUV, driven by Lohan, pursued her and Peck at high speed, putting the two of them "at extreme risk of death or injury," until they made it to the Santa Monica police station and were greeted by officers with guns drawn.

In August, Rice filed suit against Lohan for emotional distress. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and payment of medical and other expenses related to emotional distress.

Lohan's rep had no comment.

Lohan is working on her sobriety, her lawyer has said, but was recently seen slipping. After spending two months in a Utah rehab in 2007, Lohan was videotaped drinking from a champagne bottle on New Year's Eve in Italy.

After a plea deal, Lohan spent a mere 84 minutes in jail last November for both DUI charges.

By Nicholas White