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Gary Coleman and Wife Settle Civil Assault Case With Fan

By Minara El-Rahman on January 25, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis? Well it seems like Gary Coleman and his wife definitely believe in Diff'rent Strokes for different folks. RadarOnline reports that Gary Coleman and his wife recently settled a civil assault lawsuit put forth by a fan who claims that Gary Coleman and his wife assaulted him and tried to run him over with a truck.

Mr. Colt Rushton claims that Mr. Coleman's wife, Shannon Price tried to grab his phone from him in the parking lot of a bowling alley after he refused to pay for taking Gary Coleman's picture. Mr. Rushton claims that Mr. Coleman ran into him with his pickup truck afterwards and also hit another car in the parking lot on his way out. The star, his wife, and the fan reached a confidential settlement agreement. As a result of the agreement, the lawsuit was dropped.

But this case brings up the question: 

What is Civil Assault?

Assault is an intentional attempt or threat to inflict injury upon a person, coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm, which creates a reasonable apprehension of bodily harm or offensive contact in another. A victim does not need actual touching or bodily harm in order to bring up charges.

This is different from battery which is actually harmful or offensive touching.

A victim such as Mr. Colt can pursue civil damages for assault. Three types of damages can be awarded to a victim for civil assault: compensatory damages, nominal damages, and punitive damages.

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