Justin Bieber's week doesn't seem to be improving at all. Actually its been a terrible fortnight. First he gets banned by Chinese cultural bureaucrats trying to purify public morality. A few days later he summarily cancelled the rest of his Purpose World Tour. Last night he ran down a nearly 60 year old paparazzi photographer while gunning out of an event. In a giant pick up truck.
To everyone's surprise, Justin behaved like a gentleman. He stopped the truck immediately, ran nimbly around to the injured photographer. He checked with him (while having to shout down a crowd of hyenas) and talked with the man until the paramedics arrived.
Adding to the pathos, Justin was actually on his way out from the Saban Theater, after a praise and worship service at a City Church event.
As you can see in the video, there's no doubt how it happened. Justin's front right side tire smashes into the guy, immediately followed by assorted people screaming.
When the cops got there with the paramedics, they chatted up Bieber for a while, and reported that he was cooperative and concerned throughout the entire process. After reviewing the facts and talking to the injured man, they released Bieber with no citation issued..
Police say the photographer suffered non-life threatening injuries.
A few hours after he was taken to the hospital the unnamed photographer posted a video in which he says fairly nice things about Bieber, calling him a 'nice kid' and reaffirming that he believed the entire thing to be an accident.
Although he did add that the truck itself was probably 'too big' for Bieber to handle. "He couldn't really see over the dash".
Watching the video, its difficult to disagree with the victim.
In an extra bit of irony, today (the day after the accident) is the photographer's birthday.