Police probe threats against reporters who wrote Seagal stories

Friday, Sept. 6, 2002 | 12:53 p.m.

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles police are investigating threats made against two journalists who wrote stories about actor Steven Seagal's allegation that he was the victim of mafia extortion.

Ned Zeman, who wrote a story for the October issue of Vanity Fair, told police a man in a car pulled up alongside him as he was driving home Aug. 26 and shined a bright light into his car. The man pointed a handgun at Zeman and said, "Stop," police said. Zeman called police that day.

In June, Anita Busch, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, contacted police after someone smashed the windshield of her car and placed a dead fish and a rose under a roasting pan on the hood of her car. A note with the word "Stop" was left on the driver's side window, police said.

The LAPD's organized crime division is investigating the threat against Busch, Sgt. John Pasquariello said. Before being hired at the Times, Busch was editor of the Hollywood Reporter until her resignation in April 2001.

Organized crime detectives have not been called in on the Zeman matter, he said. In that case, detectives are still compiling a composite of the man who threatened him.

"We take both of these investigations seriously," Pasquariello said.

He said police advised Busch to take security precautions but did not know whether Zeman had been given similar advice.

Officials at both publications said they were taking steps to protect their reporters.

"Our reporter was threatened," said David Garcia, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Times. "After discussions with law enforcement, we took the measures recommended to ensure the safety of our reporter."

Vanity Fair spokeswoman Beth Kseniak said, "We are taking the threat seriously and we're taking security precautions."

Both journalists reported on a federal grand jury indictment involving Julius Nasso, a filmmaker who was Seagal's former business partner. Nasso was arrested in June and charged with conspiring with the mafia to extort money from Seagal.

The case has been reported by a variety of news organizations.

In New York, Seagal's attorney, Martin R. Pollner, said his client continues to work in Los Angeles on the Sony Pictures film "Half Past Dead," in which crooks storm newly reopened Alcatraz prison to force an inmate to reveal the location of a gold fortune. The film, scheduled for release in November, stars Seagal as an undercover FBI agent.

Pollner said he was in touch with law enforcement officials to determine whether the incidents involving the two journalists posed any threat to his client. Either way, he said Seagal, 51, wasn't taking any chances.

"He does not travel alone, let's put it that way," Pollner said.

Pasquariello said the two cases share similarities because both journalists were writing about Seagal and are acquainted, although detectives have yet to draw a link.

"Obviously, we are looking into that possibility," he said. "Right now, the two investigations are separate."