Naomi Campbell allegedly assaults her driver, flees scene

Naomi Campbell allegedly assaults her driver, flees scene

NEW YORK (AP) -- Naomi Campbell slapped and punched her driver in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, then hopped out of the car and ran away, a law enforcement official said. Police were looking for the British supermodel, who is known for her feisty temper. The driver, whose name wasn't immediately released, pulled the black Cadillac Escalade over near 58th Street and Second Avenue and called police after Campbell became enraged, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing. The driver, who suffered a bruised cheek, and Campbell's assistant were speaking with police at a precinct. He was apparently hired just for the day. Police were considering whether to charge Campbell with a crime. Messages left for Campbell representative Jeff Raymond were not immediately returned. Campbell has faced a series of lawsuits and criminal cases accusing her of attacking her household employees -- and two police officers at London's Heathrow Airport. She pleaded guilty in the Heathrow case in June 2008 after prosecutors said she cursed, kicked and spat at police in a rage over a missing piece of luggage; she was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. She also did a week of community service sweeping floors and scrubbing toilets in a Manhattan garbage-truck garage in 2007 after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault for hurling a cell phone at her maid because of a vanished pair of jeans. In 2000, Campbell pleaded guilty in Toronto to an assault charge for beating an assistant who said the model whacked her on the head with a phone. A few of Campbell's former aides and maids have sued her, accusing her of violent outbursts; some cases have been settled on undisclosed terms. Campbell became one of the world's highest-paid models after being discovered at age 15.