JAMES BLUNT - BLUNT BLAMES PAPARAZZI FOR CRASH

BLUNT BLAMES PAPARAZZI FOR CRASH

LATEST: British singer/songwriter JAMES BLUNT has blamed swarming paparazzi photographers for the car accident that allegedly left a passerby with an injured foot. The YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL star and his model girlfriend PETRA NEMKOVA were leaving a pre-Oscar party in Los Angeles on Saturday (24FEB07) when he reportedly ran over a fan's foot. However, his representative insists it wasn't a star-struck fan in the way, but a packing of jostling photographers. He says, "It was a ton of paparazzi that were all swarming his car as he was driving at two miles per hour trying to navigate his way through them. That's the first and foremost. They were invading his space. He was just trying to quietly leave the party." JOSEPHINE SANTOS of Pacific Coast News witnessed the accident and recalls, "Suddenly James Blunt pulled out. I was across the street. I looked over and the guy was flat on his back. I was totally frightened. I thought maybe that he got flattened by the car. I thought he was fully run over. It was horrifying. It turns out that he started to get up slowly. His right lower leg near his foot was run over." Santos maintains Blunt drove on despite frantic calls from witnesses to stop and attend to the injured man.