Britney's Vegas Bustup

Fri., Jul. 27, 2007 9:40 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

No matter where she goes—cover shoots, divorce court, Las Vegas—trouble has a way of following Britney Spears.

The latest hiccup on Spears' road to recovering from her tattered public image took place in Sin City, when a tussle between her bodyguard and an ever-present member of the paparazzi broke out, resulting in bruises, misdemeanor battery charges and a crime report filed on behalf of son Sean Preston.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, at 11:55 a.m. Thursday, a day after the pop star arrived in the city with sons Sean Preston and Jayden James and brother Bryan, cops responded to a disturbance call at the Wynn Hotel & Casino, where the Spears clan was holed up.

Spears' bodyguard, Julio "J.C." Camera, was escorting Spears and 22-month-old Sean Preston through the hotel property, police said, when a skirmish broke out between Camera and a photographer for the agency Flynet, whose identity has not been released.

Detectives from the violent crimes division arrived on the scene and subsequently cited Camera for misdemeanor battery.

The cause of the fight is, as expected, a hotly contested matter between the two parties. Flynet claims its employee was wronged, releasing a statement Friday morning claiming "the thug" Camera approached the lensman "from behind and savagely beat him while he lay defenseless on the ground."

Flynet released photos of the incident, taken by another of the agency's staffers, that show the roughed-up photographer on the ground in the fetal position with Camera about to strike a blow. Another image depicts two Wynn security officers trying to pry Camera off of the downed paparazzo.

After Camera's "cowardly act," the agency said the cameraman, who police say suffered "minor abrasions" during the attack, was forced to seek medical treatment and "will be pressing charges."

As, apparently, will Spears.

She claims that Camera was simply acting in defense of her and her son. Shortly after her bodyguard was cited in the incident, the 25-year-old filed her own crime report on behalf of Sean Preston, alleging that an incident involving another photographer had taken place just before the fight broke out that had prompted the attack.

In the report, it was alleged that the paparazzo, while attempting to snap pictures of Spears, had battered both Camera and Sean Preston, who was being held by Camera at the time.

The investigation into Spears' allegations is still pending, police said. The entertainer did not immediately comment on the incident.

According to Us Weekly, which first reported the melee, Spears checked out of the Wynn Thursday afternoon, though whether her departure was voluntary is unclear.

Police reports aren't the only fallout that may result from her Sin City sojourn.

The curtailed getaway could pose problems in Spears' custody battle with Kevin Federline, as under California law, neither parent is allowed to take a child out of the state without receiving written permission from the other parent or a court order. According to People, Spears failed to inform Federline ahead of the family excursion.

As it is, Spears may be spending a significant amount of time in Vegas in the near future. She's already due to open the Vegas offshoot of Hollywood club LAX on Aug. 31 and is rumored to be one of the surprise performers at MTV's Video Music Awards, when the show airs from the Palms Hotel & Casino on Sept. 9.