Steven Seagal Sued Over Made-for-TV Arrest

Actor turned deputized officer is named in a lawsuit filed by a man who claims the raid on his home was orchestrated for the former action star's reality series

By Peter Gicas Mar 08, 2012 4:36 PMTags
Steven Seagal, LawmanAandE

It looks like the lawman is going to need a lawyer.

Onetime big-screen action hero Steven Seagal is being sued by a Phoenix man who claims his arrest in 2011 was staged for the star's A&E reality show, Steven Seagal: Lawman, which follows the 60-year-old actor as he works as a deputized officer.

In his suit filed against Seagal as well as the Sheriff's Office, Jesus Llovera insists that the raid on his home over suspicions he was raising roosters for fighting was unlawful, claiming the animals were merely pets, according to the Arizona Republic.

Llovera adds that the raid and his subsequent arrest were orchestrated for Seagal's show. As he was handcuffed and taken outside, Llovera saw Seagal, rifle in hand, waiting outside while a camera crew caught it all on tape.

While there's been no word yet from Seagal regarding the suit, a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office says that the search warrant "was going to occur with or without Seagal" and "was not based at all on the needs of the production company."

In court documents, the Sheriff's Office also insists that the use of a tank, a bomb robot and 40 deputies used during the raid was part of its normal course of duties.

Llovera is seeking unspecified monetary damages.