It was supposed to be a ride home. Kiefer Sutherland had just finished dinner with a friend in January when he called for an Uber Black. Hours later, the actor was under arrest following an alleged altercation with the driver.
Ten months later, the two men are offering very different accounts of what happened inside that car, with the dispute now playing out in court.
Driver Rafael Manvelyan tells one version. In a lawsuit filed Oct. 12, he alleges that Sutherland seemed “visibly intoxicated,” grew increasingly aggressive, threatened to kill him and put him in a “chokehold” while he was behind the wheel. At one point, Manvelyan claims, he tried to get out of the car because he feared for his life.
Sutherland is telling a very different story. In a Nov. 10 response obtained by PEOPLE, the actor denied “each and every allegation” and claimed that anything he did was in “self-defense” because he believed Manvelyan “posed an imminent threat of bodily harm” to him.
That account echoes what Sutherland reportedly told police the night of his arrest. He said he had repeatedly asked the driver to pull over and let him out, but the driver kept going. USA Inquirer also reported that Manvelyan spoke Russian or Armenian and requested a translator when police arrived. *Sources suggested a language barrier may have contributed to the dispute.
Sutherland’s legal team is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit “with prejudice,” meaning Manvelyan could not bring the same claims again. The actor also argued that the driver “suffered no injury” and brought the case in “bad faith.” Police said at the time of the arrest that no injuries required medical treatment.
Ernesto Ruscio/Getty
The civil lawsuit is separate from the criminal investigation. Sutherland, 59, was arrested on suspicion of felony criminal threats, but prosecutors sent the case back to police for further investigation. As of March 2, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office was reviewing additional evidence, and no charges had been filed.
Both sides have requested a jury trial. A rep for Sutherland did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
If the lawsuit proceeds, a jury could ultimately be asked to weigh the competing accounts of what happened that night.
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