Chauffeur withdraws complaint of Naomi Campbell car attack

March 6th, 2010

The chauffeur who claimed that Naomi Campbell hit him while they were driving through New York on Tuesday has withdrawn his complaint, saying that he “overreacted” during an argument with the British supermodel.
The limousine driver, Miodrag Mejdina, issued an apologetic statement through his lawyers on Thursday, less than 48 hours after he alleged to police that Ms Campbell had attacked him from the back seat of the car.
“On March 2nd, I had an argument with Naomi Campbell, I got angry and overreacted. It was a misunderstanding and I regret involving the police,” the statement said.
“This whole thing has been blown out of proportion and I apologise to Ms Campbell for causing that to happen.”
Mr Mejdina had alleged that Campbell, 39, had flown into a rage after arguing with her billionaire Russian boyfriend while driving through Manhattan. According to police, Mr Mejdina had complained that Campbell had hit him while he was driving, causing him to hit his head on the steering wheel. He said that she had then left the scene on foot after he stopped the black Cadillac Escalade and went to talk to a traffic police officer about the incident.
Police had searched for the model and issued a harassment report.
Campbell, who has faced previous allegations of assaulting staff, has now escaped a new criminal case after Mr Mejdina, 27, declined to press charges.
The Streatham-born supermodel issued a statement saying the matter was closed and that she just wanted “to put the last few days behind me and move on”.
“I was accused of unacceptable behaviour towards a driver in New York,” Campbell said in a statement. “I have worked very hard on correcting my previous wrongdoings and I will not be held hostage to my past.”
“I try to treat everyone with respect and I am pleased the driver has apologised. I would like to put the last few days behind me and move on.”
Campbell leapt to fame in the late 1980s when she became the first black model to appear on the cover of French and British Vogue.
But her legendary tantrums have triggered a series of lawsuits and criminal charges by staff who claim that they were abused. In 2008 she pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers at Heathrow after going in a rage over missing luggage. She also pleaded guilty to throwing her crystal-studded mobile phone at a maid in New York in 2007. She was sentenced to perform a week of community service, scrubbing toilets and sweeping floors at a dustbin van depot in Manhattan.
In 2000 Campbell also pleaded guilty to assault in Toronto for assaulting an assistant who said the model hit her in the head with a mobile phone.
source: timesonline.co.uk