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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Conrad Hilton III Sued Over Head-On Collision

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Conrad Hilton III, the troubled heir to the hotel fortune and younger brother of Paris and Nicky Hilton, was sued Monday by a woman who claims he crashed his father's company's Range Rover head-on into her car — perhaps while high on drugs.

Kelly Auld also sued luxury real estate brokerage Hilton & Hyland LLC, for letting the 22-year-old Hilton drive the car at all.

After all, the crash took place just one day after Hilton pleaded guilty to a felony for a 2014 incident in which he drove 100 mph to evade arrest before crashing, Auld says in the Superior Court complaint.

Hilton has "a well-documented history of drug abuse, alcohol problems, abusive and outrageous conduct, and, most significantly, extremely dangerous driving," the complaint states.

"He does not belong behind the wheel of an automobile, and he knows this or reasonably should know this," Auld adds. "More importantly, those around him know this too ... and have no business entrusting him with an automobile."

A federal court in January ordered Hilton not to drive as a condition of probation after he pleaded guilty to assaulting two airline attendants during a Los Angeles-to-London flight in 2014. He also admitted he had smoked marijuana in the plane's restroom.

He later was sentenced to 60 days in jail for repeatedly violating probation in that case, including failing drug tests. He was released this month.

Auld claims Hilton was high on drugs when he crashed into her SUV on May 18.

Auld was driving north on Beverly Glen Boulevard, which connects the San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills. Hilton was driving south in the Range Rover.

"Suddenly, the Range Rover started erratically moving back and forth in the southbound lane, and then began drifting into the northbound lane, coming straight towards plaintiff's car," Auld says in the lawsuit.

She honked. He accelerated.

"As plaintiff looked on in horror, the Range Rover then drove headfirst into her vehicle, completely crushing the front end of her SUV and causing her body to jolt violently forward," the complaint states.

"As the Range Rover was careening towards her, she saw Conrad sitting in the driver's seat with his hands held above his head and a dazed look on his face."

Instead of stopping, Hilton drove away, sideswiping another car, stopping only when his path was blocked by traffic. When he got out, "he was covered in vomit and appeared to be dazed and confused," Auld says.

She adds that before he climbed from the Range Rover, witnesses saw Hilton toss a bong out the passenger-side window.

She seeks punitive damages for battery, assault, negligence and negligent entrustment.

The negligent entrustment allegation, against Hilton & Hyland, blasts his father Richard Hilton's company for lending Conrad Hilton a car at all.

Given his "history of drugs, alcohol, and reckless driving ... entrusting Conrad with a Hilton & Hyland SUV was as idiotic as entrusting a suicidal person with a gun or letting a four-year-old take control of an airplane," Auld says in the complaint.

A spokesperson for the company did not respond to a phone message. Nor did famed Los Angeles attorney Robert Shapiro, who represents Conrad Hilton in the airline criminal case.

Auld is represented by Stephen J. Newman, a Los Angeles litigation partner of New York-based Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, who said he usually defends class actions and lenders.

This auto-accident case "came to us through an unusual path" that he would not detail. He said that, unlike most firms representing car-crash plaintiffs, Stroock is not handling this lawsuit on a contingency fee.

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