Justin Bieber may have canceled the last few concert dates of his “Purpose” World Tour in order to get an early start at some rest and quiet (after 154 performances from 2016 to 2017), but it seems he will not be getting any peace quite soon. In what seems yet another road accident case involving a high-profile celebrity, the Canadian pop idol ran his car right into a paparazzo that had been trailing him, on the evening of Wednesday after departing from beverly hills City Church. The collision took place somewhere on Wilshire Boulevard near Hamilton Drive.

Nosy photographers

According to the Beverly Hills Police Department, Justin Bieber struck a celebrity photographer with his Ram pickup truck at 9:24 PM on July 26. The singer had just departed from an event at the City Church featuring the Australian worship band Hillsong United. When Bieber’s vehicle was at Wilshire near Hamilton, just outside the Saban Theater, he found his way blocked by a large gathering of press people and paparazzi. In his attempt to avoid being swamped by the crowd, the 23-year-old star had tried to intimidate them by making his pickup truck move slightly according to eyewitness accounts. Unfortunately, that led to one paparazzo getting struck down on the street.

Beverly Hills Police Lieutenant Scott Dowling relates that Bieber immediately got out of his Ram in order to check on the accident victim, an African-American adult male in black clothes, red cap and glasses with a digital camera.

First aid responders at the scene noted that the man suffered a leg injury from being hit by the singer’s vehicle, but that it was not life-threatening in any way. While Bieber, dressed in a green warm-up jacket and jogging pants was giving testimony on the incident, the hapless photographer was taken for treatment at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

Another wrinkle

Last Wednesday’s accident has become another headache for Justin Bieber, who is still shrugging off some significant backlash over the abrupt cancellation of his World Tour. There were still 15 concerts left in the original itinerary of his Purpose World Tour built around the pop star’s 2015 album and his more recent remix of the new Reggaeton hit “Despacito.” Complaints have come from disappointed fans in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan asking for ticket refunds, while Bieber also faces monetary penalties to his tour earning due to the canceled US performances.

If there is one thing Bieber can be thankful for, it is that his victim got off extremely lightly from the collision. One other celebrity car crash sees tennis player Venus Williams being held responsible for the death of a senior man who succumbed to injuries he got after crashing his car to hers.
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