Todd Wallace was the paparazzo who tailed Reese Witherspoon and company through Disney’s California Adventure in the fall of ’05. The encounter there turned into a big news maker as it resulted in lost tempers and purported physical attacks.
An as-yet unidentified body has been found in Wallace’s Brentwood apartment. Police confirm that badly decomposed remains were indeed found in that residence, but have not yet positively identified them. Friends of Wallace believe it to be his body.
Until this discovery, police thought Wallace had skipped the country to avoid a possible jail sentence.
The as yet unconfirmed body of Todd Wallace was found in his
California apartment. Wallace was a paparazzo most famous for his
Disney Theme park sacking of a Reese Witherspoon (DVDs) party. The police
have not yet given any positive identification on the body, but friends
of Wallace believe it to be his remains. No foul play is suspected at
this point.
The Reese Witherspoon/ Todd Wallace Disney encounter happened as Witherspoon
tried to celebrate her six year old daughter’s birthday with a group of
family and friends. Wallace reportedly asked for a picture and was
declined. This is said to have thrown him into a rage. A park employee said in regards to Wallace’s actions at the time:
"Somebody’s aggressive behaviour became criminal in nature, It was more
of a basketball-type movement where you throw your body onto somebody,
possibly in the attempt to knock her down."
The attack is also said to have included striking a child with a
camera, and lots of swearing at the photo-declining group. The moment
was intense enough to break some of the children into tears. Two
employees tried restraining him, resulted in Wallace allegedly striking
them too.
The bushwhacking resulted in six misdemeanour charges, to all of
which Wallace plead not guilty. The paparazzo was due in court for a
separate charge, but didn’t show, resulting in the Judge issuing a
warrant for his arrest. He skipped out on bail and, until now, police
thought he’d escaped to Central America using an alias.
Paparazzi are often dehumanised in the media for their intrusive
behaviour and overall relentlessness. But celebrity photographer or
not, loss of life is always a very sad and tragic event, and our
deepest condolences go out to his family and friends. That said,
hecklerspray very hesitatingly calls dibs on his stuff.
Read more:
Witherspoon snapper feared dead – BBC
[story by Shawn Lindseth]
vitaminD says
death of a paparrizzi type photographer wont draw a lot of dew from the celebrity set — or the photographer set for that matter. his mom is sad, i’ll bet, and his father. his sisters and brothers, surely, and his drug dealer is probably gnashing his teeth too. sad day for all involved.