Ian Ziering faces accusations of battery and assault two years after an alleged road rage incident.
Ziering, 61, is the target of a civil complaint filed in Los Angeles County by Jacob Hernandez, People reported on Monday, December 29. According to the outlet, Hernandez claims that the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum verbally and physically assaulted him during an incident on New Year’s Eve 2023.
In his complaint, Hernandez accused Ziering of battery, assault, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Hernandez, then 20 years old, recalled that he and a friend encountered Ziering while driving motorbikes on a busy Los Angeles street. They allegedly tried to change lanes, stopping in front of a Mercedes-Benz that wasn’t moving. Hernandez claimed that he was “not impeding the flow of traffic in any way, specifically not the Mercedes” due to cars stalled in traffic.
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Per People, citing court documents, Ziering “suddenly exited” the Mercedes and yelled at Hernandez, who did not respond, and allegedly shoved him, which caused Hernandez to tumble into his friend. Their bikes allegedly fell on the street. Hernandez claimed that he and his friend received injuries and the bikes were damaged.
The plaintiff alleged that a “melee occurred between [Ziering] and multiple individuals who came” to his aid. He claimed that Ziering’s “actions were intentional, unnecessary, and posed a foreseeable risk of physical and emotional harm, which [he] in fact suffered.”
Hernandez also claimed that Ziering leveraged his fame and media connections to spin the narrative in his favor at the time of the incident. He also accused the actor of giving law enforcement “misleading information” that led to Hernandez’s arrest in May 2024 for felony vandalism. Hernandez was held on $50,000 bail and released. During his arraignment that June, the District Attorney’s office said they weren’t moving forward with a criminal case against him.
Hernandez claimed that he’s since suffered “significant mental health issues,” extreme anxiety and panic attacks in light of the incident.
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“[He] had his name negatively plastered in the media as a result of the public megaphone which [Ziering] held, lying by omission in multiple interviews, making [him] out to be the aggressor,” the complaint alleged, per People. “[Hernandez] does not want to leave his home for fear of public humiliation nor open his social media applications, as [Ziering’s] story was publicized vilifying [Hernandez].”
He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial.
Us Weekly has reached out to Ziering for comment.
A video published by TMZ that New Year’s Eve showed the Hollywood Boulevard brawl between Ziering and the bikers, who allegedly attacked the actor as he ran away from his car. In the aftermath, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to “reports of a fight that broke out after the group of bikers were driving recklessly.”
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The department then began an investigation that resulted in the arrests of Hernandez and fellow motorist Angie Guizar several months later.
Ziering subsequently addressed the situation via Instagram, recalling that he had “experienced an alarming incident involving a group of individuals on mini bikes.”
He explained: “While stuck in traffic, my car was approached aggressively by one of these riders leading to an unsettling confrontation. In an attempt to assess any damage I exited my car. This action, unfortunately, escalated into a physical altercation, which I navigated to protect myself.”
Ziering’s daughter, Penna, then 10 years old, was in the car at the time of the brawl. Father and daughter were not harmed.
“I am relieved to report that my daughter and I are both completely unscathed, but the incident has left me deeply concerned about the growing boldness of such groups who disrupt public safety and peace,” he stated on social media. “This situation highlights a larger issue of hooliganism on our streets and the need for effective law enforcement responses to such behavior. As a citizen and a parent, I find it unacceptable that groups can freely engage in this kind of behavior, causing fear and chaos, while the response from authorities seems insufficient.”
