Shaquille O'Neal sued by ex-gang member over alleged kidnapping
(CBS) LOS ANGELES - Ex-gang member Robert Ross filed a lawsuit Friday against Shaquille O'Neal, claiming the retired basketball star was behind multiple murders and ordered him kidnapped by seven gang members over an alleged sex tape.
TMZ reports the Ross lawsuit claims the retired NBA star "requested and directed" him to carry out hits on several people, including a gang member, a record producer and a woman he impregnated. The lawsuit was filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
O'Neal's lawyer, Michael J. Kump, reportedly told TMZ that "the outlandish claims by Robert Ross in his civil complaint are pure fiction. Shaquille O'Neal befriended Mr. Ross in an attempt to help turn his life around. Sadly, Mr. Ross abused that friendship again and again."
Kump said that O'Neal would not "dignify these defamatory allegations with a response."
Ross has previously testified in criminal court that he was kidnapped by seven gang members in Feb. 2008 because he was in possession of a sex tape allegedly involving the basketball star and a woman who was not his wife. O'Neal was not charged in connection to the incident.
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