Lohan's Legal Woes Get Even Worse

Lohan's Legal Woes Get Even Worse

HOLLYWOOD - The man whose foot Lindsay Lohan drove over as she left a party in pursuit of a former assistant is threatening to sue the actress.

Ronnie Blake was one of three partygoers who were inside a white GMC SUV when the intoxicated Mean Girls star allegedly commandeered the vehicle to chase Tarin Grahame through the streets of Malibu, California, on Monday night.

But Blake managed to get out of the vehicle just before Lohan sped off, with his two pals, Dante Nigro and Jakon Sutter fearing for their lives inside.

The three men have now hired attorney Randall Billington to represent them as they consider legal action against Lohan.

If the action goes ahead, Blake will be seeking damages for his injuries, while Nigro and Sutter are considering pressing false imprisonment and stolen-vehicle charges.

Billington insists the trio should not be seen as opportunists looking to get rich quick from a celebrity.

He says, "It was a surprise to them that the vehicle was taken without their permission. They were unable to remove themselves from the vehicle while it was traveling... They never expected to be in a car with her (Lohan)."

After speeding the GMC around the streets of Malibu, Lohan allegedly went to Grahame's home in Santa Monica, where she began a second chase with her former assistant's mother, facialist to the stars Michelle Peck.

Peck called police to report the facts she was being chased and the authorities arrested Lohan in a car park a block away from a police station in Santa Monica.

Lindsay Lohan

When it came time to find a young actress to assume the role of the twins (originated by Hayley Mills) for the 1998 remake of the film "The Parent Trap," an exhaustive casting search occurred throughout the USA, Canada and even in London. Perhaps because the behind-the-scenes figures opted to avoid the obvious and cast the Olsen twins, thousands of girls were considered. After three callbacks and a screen test with stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson, freckle-faced Long Islander, Lindsay Lohan, won the role....

Full Biography

When it came time to find a young actress to assume the role of the twins (originated by Hayley Mills) for the 1998 remake of the film "The Parent Trap," an exhaustive casting search occurred throughout the USA, Canada and even in London. Perhaps because the behind-the-scenes figures opted to avoid the obvious and cast the Olsen twins, thousands of girls were considered. After three callbacks and a screen test with stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson, freckle-faced Long Islander, Lindsay Lohan, won the role. Although she was just 11 years old when she was cast, she had an impressive resume. As the lovely redhead grew into adulthood, she continued to impress critics and gain fans of all ages – but most particularly, the ‘tween set who grew up along with her. After making her star-making turn in the hit comedy, “Mean Girls,” and her first adult romance with actor Wilmer Valderrama, Lohan became a favorite of the press. But once the still underage actress began hitting the town, losing drastic weight and getting into numerous fender benders – to say nothing of her numerous trips to the hospital for various reasons – it was then that the tabloids and blog sites began referencing her wild child ways more than her still consistently good work on screen.
Born July 2, 1986 in New York City, NY, Lindsay Morgan Lohan was the oldest child of four born to mother Dina Lohan, a former Radio City Rockette, and Michael Lohan, a long-time Wall Street trader. Their daughter began modeling at age three and was purported to be the first red-haired child signed by the Ford Modeling Agency. TV commercials for various products followed, including a Jell-O spot with pitchman Bill Cosby. Lohan also had recurring roles on two daytime dramas – CBS' "Guiding Light" and as Ali Fowler on NBC's "Another World" – before she landed the first movie role for which she ever auditioned. Playing twins separated at birth – one American and one British – for "The Parent Trap" remake, she turned in a delightful and skilled performance which led to numerous offers for the youngster. Lohan next filmed the telepic "Life-Size" (2000) – originally a "Wonderful World of Disney" production later released on home video – opposite Tyra Banks as a Barbie-style doll come-to-life – part of Lohan's three-picture deal with Disney. In 2000, Lohan was cast as Bette Midler's teen daughter on the short-lived CBS sitcom, "Bette" (2000). After shooting the pilot episode, the show's producers decided it would be easier on the L.A.-based crew if filming moved to California, so Lindsay gave up the role to stay in New York.

Finding consistent work, Lohan next played Lexy Gold in the Disney Channel telepic, "Get a Clue" (2002). The young actress also pursued a musical career when Emilio Estefan, Jr. took her under his professional wing in 2002, offering up a five-album production deal and the promise of an aggressive effort to sell her popular style "with a rock edge" to a major record label. The busy youngster also worked as a model for Abercrombie & Fitch Kids (A&F Kids) and Calvin Klein Kids.

Lohan continued her relationship with the Mouse Factory, signing on to play Anna Coleman in the theatrical remake of the body-swapping comedy "Freaky Friday" (2003) opposite Jamie Lee Curtis as the mother-and-daughter team who wake up one day in each other's bodies. The film was a surprise summer hit, generating over $100 million at the box office and raising Lohan's profile even further. Also helpful was a well reported public feud with fellow teen queen Hilary Duff, after the two briefly shared a boyfriend, singer Aaron Carter. Like Duff, she also incorporated her singing career into her acting gig, with the "Freaky Friday" soundtrack including her debut single, "Ultimate." Lohan returned to the big screen by carrying the chick-flick comedy, "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" (2004) on her solo shoulders. In the film, Lohan played Lola, an egocentric teen uprooted from her home town who feels the world revolves around her and finds herself competing for attention in Manhattan, using grander and grander schemes. The actress provided vocals on four songs from the film's soundtrack, including "Drama Queen (That Girl)," "What Are You Waiting For," "A Day in the Life" and a medley that incorporated the original song "Don't Move On" with her take on Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" and David Bowie's "Changes."

Next up was a slightly edgier role – one that would make her an international star and change the course of her life, elevating her to A-list status. Taking on the lead in "Mean Girls" (2004), a funny if familiar comedy penned by Tina Fey, which explored the in-fighting amongst a clique of catty high school girls, Lohan helped lead the film to box office success and watched it firmly cement her star power – this time, even beyond her teen and 'tween core audience. Under the wing of new mentor Tommy Mottola, the famed head of Sony Music, Lohan also released her first full album, Speak, which swiftly achieved platinum status and featured the single "Rumors," in which she decried the gossipy buzz that had begun to surround her every move.

Indeed, the young actress' rapidly maturing body and youthful sex appeal – combined with a burgeoning reputation for enjoying the Hollywood night life, despite being underage – suddenly made her regular fodder for celebrity gossip. These same publications dutifully covered her denials about having received breast implants, her brief 2004 relationship with TV actor Wilmer Valderrama, her alleged hard-partying ways, an aggressive paparazzi pursuit that resulted in a fender bender, and – after her figure had turned voluptuous and her titian hair became her trademark – her eyebrow-raising rapid weight loss (which the actress attributed to a healthier lifestyle) and new look as a bottled blonde. The actress also had to deal with press reports regarding her estranged father Michael Lohan, whose alleged substance abuse and short temper (he reportedly threatened the lives of his ex-wife and children) resulted in several brushes with the law, including a legal restraining order preventing him from contact with his family and jail time for a litany of legal offenses, including assaulting his brother-in-law at his son's first communion party, violating terms of his restraining order and a 2005 drunk driving crash in which his vehicle struck a utility pole in Long Island and caught fire. Further estranging his famous daughter, he also sought to claim a percentage of his offspring's earnings.

Despite all the lurid press, Lohan's popularity continued unabated and Disney cast her in further family fare, this time in the remake of the studio's famous "Love Bug" franchise, "Herbie: Fully Loaded" (2005) as a young girl who inherits the legendary Volkswagen Beetle and takes it to the NASCAR race circuit. The Mouse House did have some concerns about the voluptuous Lohan's image in regards to how their young audience might react, spending considerable sums to digitally decrease her growing bust size after it was deemed distracting.

In 2005, a mounting pile of scandalous headlines began plaguing the actress. She was rushed to the hospital during filming of “Herbie,” reportedly due to “exhaustion.” This would not be the last time Lohan would be hospitalized for a variety of ailments. She was in her second auto accident of the year, again blaming pursuing paparazzi. Her private life made headlines for the umpteenth time that year when she confessed to Vanity Fair that she had indeed experienced an eating disorder earlier that year – specifically, bulimia – that accounted for her significant weight loss and that she was shocked back to healthier ways after being confronted by "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ) producer Lorne Michaels and head writer Tina Fey while hosting the show that year. She also admitted to experimenting with drugs. The cover story was released just as Lohan was hospitalized for a reported asthma attack in Miami after ringing in 2006. Within a week, Lohan denied having made the statements to the magazine, saying her words were "misconstrued." The magazine stood by the story.

After moving on from Disney – and consequently her childhood image – Lohan began taking on more womanly parts in impressive ensembles and holding her own opposite some of Hollywood's most admired talents. She joined the impressive cast of Emilio Estevez's independent film "Bobby" (2006) – which included Anthony Hopkins and Sharon Stone – about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and costarred opposite Oscar-winner Meryl Streep in Robert Altman's last film, "A Prairie Home Companion" – both released in 2006. She costarred with her reported off-screen love interest, Jared Leto, in "Chapter 27" (2007), an indie film about a woman who befriends Mark David Chapman during the weekend that he kills John Lennon in New York City. Although she continued to land roles in impressive films opposite heavyweight actors like Jane Fonda in "Georgia Rule" (2007) – the film she was making when its producers made public a scolding letter to curb her on set tardiness from all the partying – Lohan's increasingly erratic behavior and seemingly non-stop personal drama began shifting the focus from her undeniable onscreen talent to being the punchline of jokes.

For La Lohan, as she was being called on the internet, 2006 was more one long banner tabloid headline than a focus on career. If she was not caught getting out of boats and cars sans panties, she was getting into fights with fellow party girls like Paris Hilton. In fact, Hilton and her fellow trust fund baby, Brandon Davis, coined the term, “firecr*tch” in reference to Lohan, after both were caught on tape by TMZ.com mocking the actress in graphic terms. Celebrity bloggers and tabloids lived for Lohan's every move throughout the year, reporting gleefully on her relationships gone awry – including a summer romance with restaurant heir, Harry Morton – or her numerous trips to the hospital for "exhaustion." It was little wonder, that by year's end, GQ magazine named Lohan their “Obsession of the Year." At the time the magazine threw their annual party to celebrate their year-end issue, Lohan allegedly made a scene after seeing her ex-personal assistant in attendance and forced Al Gore to publicly denounce having spoken at length with her that night. Following only days later, the press reported – and Lohan later confirmed but downplayed – that a doctor was called to the Chateau Marmont for a rumored Lohan overdose. This shocking announcement was followed in quick succession by her mother Dina Lohan admitting on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show that her daughter had begun attending Alcoholics Anonymous.

Fans hoped that the actress would ease up on her fast track lifestyle and get back to the basics – her undeniable ability to light up the big screen with her luminous beauty and charm. Only weeks into the new year, however, Lohan was back in the news for entering rehab, reportedly at Wonderland Treatment Center in L.A., and released the statement that ""I have made a proactive decision to take care of my personal health. I appreciate your well wishes and ask that you please respect my privacy at this time." For a spell, it seemed as though she had her priorities in order. But on May 26, 2007, Lohan was driving down Sunset Boulevard at 5:30 am and lost control of her Mercedes-Benz, crashing into a hedge and fleeing the scene of the accident. Police found a small amount of what they believed was a “usable amount” of cocaine. Three days after the accident, Lohan checked herself into Promises Treatment Center in Malibu, CA. She left rehab in late-June and voluntarily agreed to wear an alcohol-monitoring device, something she enjoyed showing off to friends and paparazzi while being seen partying about town.

Then on July 2, 2007, Lohan turned 21 and was finally able to drink legally. A couple of weeks later, she quietly surrendered to Beverly Hills Police for her Memorial Day weekend incident and faced charges for a misdemeanor hit and run, and driving under the influence. Mere days after turning herself in, however, Lohan was again the victim of her own circumstances. On July 24, 2007, the of-age starlet was arrested in Santa Monica shortly after midnight. Police said they received a frantic call of a car chase on Pico Boulevard – it turned out that the vehicle in pursuit was driven by Lohan, and the vehicle being chased was driven by the mother of Lohan’s personal assistant, who had quit her employment earlier in the evening. Lohan was taken into custody in the parking lot of the Santa Monica Civic Center, registering a blood alcohol level of about 0.12, well above the California legal limit of 0.08. She was later charged with suspicion of drunken driving, possession of cocaine, bringing a controlled substance into custody and driving on a suspended license. Lohan was released on $25,000 bail and was set to be arraigned on August 24, 2007 – the same day she was scheduled to appear in Beverly Hills for her Memorial Day weekend DUI.