Surveillance video released in Lohan case

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The NYPD has released surveillance video of the incident involving a vehicle driven by Lindsay Lohan in which a young man says he was struck early Wednesday in Chelsea.

Grainy black-and-white surveillance camera footage shows an encounter between Lohan and a pedestrian who says she clipped him while driving outside a nightclub in Chelsea and then drove away.

It's blurred to protect the identities of witnesses standing near Lohan's Porsche outside the nightclub at the Dream Hotel.

The footage shows Lohan's car turn toward the crowd, but the blurriness obscures what restaurant worker Jose Rodriguez says was the car hitting him. The car drives off as Rodriguez chases it. Police say Rodriguez suffered a knee injury.

Lohan was arrested later on charges of leaving the scene of an accident and causing injury. She was given a ticket. Her publicist says the injury claims are false.

Police are trying to sort out the key facts in the case, hoping to figure out exactly what happened. Authorities do not believe Lohan was drunk, and they didn't even give her a Breathalyzer test.

Detectives acknowledged that the video does not clearly show Lohan's Porsche hitting 34-year-old Jose Rodriguez.

The stakes are high for Lohan, who has had several brushes with the law. In May, she was cleared of allegations she hit a night club manager in Los Angeles. And she's still on probation for a jewelry theft case last year.

This case may be a probation violation.

"Whenever you have actions that either are law breaking or violating moral ethics, then you're going to have a situation where you can lose your probation and end up in jail, end up with extended probation or end up with a separate sentence," trial attorney Herb Subin said.

Her publicist says Lohan is innocent of any wrongdoing in the incident, saying in a statement that she is "confident this matter will be cleared up in the coming weeks and the claims made against Lindsay will be proven untrue."

The alleged victim says he plans to sue the actress. Her father, Michael Lohan, says they will counter-sue.

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