Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Sued Over Alleged Attack on Man

A 59-year-old West Los Angeles man filed a civil suit in Santa Monica court Thursday alleging that he was attacked by former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at a Westwood yogurt shop in April.

Jerry Cohen, a music editor at Universal Studios, charges that he was in the parking lot of the Big Chill yogurt shop on Olympic Boulevard when Abdul-Jabbar approached him from behind and assaulted him after a misunderstanding over a parking space.

Larry Feldman, a lawyer representing Cohen, said his client had been waiting for a parking spot in the small lot and had backed up traffic. After landing the spot, Cohen was walking toward the shop when he was approached by Abdul-Jabbar.

“Jabbar was screaming at him,” Feldman said. “Mr. Cohen remembers him saying something like ‘Don’t give me the finger!’ But he doesn’t know what hit him. He didn’t even know who Jabbar was until he had left the scene and witnesses said, ‘Do you know who that was?’ ”

Feldman said Cohen was grabbed from behind by Abdul-Jabbar, who threw him against a window and then onto the ground. The 7-foot-1 former basketball superstar then reportedly got on top of Cohen, who is about 5 feet 7, and “had his hands in his neck area,” the lawyer said.

Cohen was treated at UCLA Medical Center after the incident and continues to suffer from blurry vision and neck and back problems, according to the lawsuit.

“My client was scared out of his mind,” Feldman said. “In hindsight, he believes that Mr. Jabbar misunderstood when he was pointing to show he was waiting for a parking spot. He certainly wasn’t giving him the finger. He was trying to be courteous.”

Barry West, the Century City attorney who represents Abdul-Jabbar, said Thursday that he had not seen the suit and declined to comment.