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Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman had just finished a wholesome evening of bowling with his wife and his bodyguard in lovely Payson, Utah, yesterday when 24-year-old punk Colt Rushton approached him in the parking lot and demanded that the actor pose for a cellphone picture with him. Coleman refused, Rushton would not back down, and it ended like it always ends when some fool steps to Gary fucking Coleman: with the perp flat on his ass.
Rushton claims that Coleman's wife snatched his cellphone from him and that Coleman threw down on him in a series of blows. Then, says Rushton, he was merely trying to retrieve his phone when Coleman backed his truck into him, sending him to the asphalt. According to Coleman's bodyguard, Fred, it was all the kid's fault.
“He asked the kid not to take pictures. Why can’t he be an adult and respect his [Coleman’s] privacy,” said his bodyguard. The bodyguard, we’ll call “Fred,” says the harassment continued outside as Coleman and his wife tried to leave. “This kid would not back off—he would not back off.”
Police say Coleman’s truck struck Rushton and hit a car that had pulled up behind Coleman’s truck. Fred says Rushton ran around the actor’s pickup as Coleman was backing out. “The kid was way careless. He was reckless. Who runs out on somebody that’s turning?”
“He did not intentionally hit this kid,” said Fred, “He [Coleman] was just trying to get out of here.” Payson Police say a County Deputy witnessed the scuffle and intervened. “He opened the door and pulled Gary out,” said Fred. Fred says the truck was still in gear when the deputy pulled Coleman out. It was heading toward Rushton who was still on the ground. Fred says he hopped in and put on the brakes. [ABC4]
No arrests have been made and the matter is still under investigation. The police, shockingly, suspect that alcohol may have played a part.
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