Man Faces Charges in Incident With Actress

A paparazzo trying to photograph actress Reese Witherspoon’s 6-year-old daughter’s birthday outing was cited for allegedly assaulting two Disney employees after he got so close to the children he made them cry, officials said Tuesday.

Todd K. Wallace, 44, of Beverly Hills was cited for misdemeanor assault and battery Friday after he allegedly used his body to push the employees, who were escorting the group of children and the actress at the California Adventure theme park, said Anaheim Police Sgt Rick Martinez.

One Disney employee accompanying the group tried to persuade Wallace to move, but he allegedly “pushed her with his entire body, not just once but numerous times,” Martinez said.

“He refused to stop and move away.”

A second employee was also allegedly assaulted as he came to help, Martinez said.

“For the paparazzi to commit a violent act to get a magazine photo is bad enough. But to do it in front of children at the Happiest Place on Earth and make them cry is despicable,” said Blair Beck, Witherspoon’s attorney.

Wallace could not be reached for comment.

He was charged and released and is expected to appear in court later this month.

Last month, actress Scarlett Johansson drove into a car carrying a family as she was trying to elude paparazzi who had followed her from her Hollywood home to Disneyland.

Photographers in that case insisted they had nothing to do with the accident. No one was hurt in the incident.

Los Angeles County prosecutors and police decided last month not to file charges against paparazzi who in April chased Witherspoon from her gym to her home.

Witherspoon told police that photographers had swarmed her car, scratched it and tried to force her off the road.

She said they surrounded her when she reached the West Los Angeles gated community where she lives with her husband, actor Ryan Phillippe, and their two children.