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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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Actress Says Feud Blew Up in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Actress Claudia DiFolco sued the 19-year-old son of L.A. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, claiming he slashed the tires on her car, poured syrup in the engine and threw a brick through a window because she did not "properly acknowledge" his mom at a restaurant.

DiFolco sued Maxwell Kupchak in superior court on Wednesday, seeking punitive damages for intentional trespass, conversion and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Born in Canada, DiFolco moved to Arizona in the 1990s to become a news reporter. She co-anchored the 11 p.m. news on UPN13 KCOP-TV in Los Angeles in 2004, and hosted a short-lived TV series called "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance."

She played a newscaster in "Saw 3D: The Final Chapter" (2010) and an Italian reporter on two episodes of "The Bold and the Beautiful" (2011).

Kupchak is the son of Mitch and Claire Kupchak, an actress best known for "One Last Ride" (2004) and "Hard Time: Premonition" (1999).

His sister, Alina Claire Kupchak, died in early January 2015 after a long struggle with an unspecified illness.

Ten months later, Maxwell Kupchak "decided to recruit three other men to terrorize plaintiff Claudia DiFolco and to vandalize her home and automobile ... in a vicious and vindictive attempt to exact revenge on behalf of his mother," DiFolco says in her 15-page complaint.

She claims it was set off when Claire Kupchak, "who had a history of irrational and vindictive behavior toward DiFolco," became upset when DiFolco did not "properly acknowledge her at a local restaurant at a restaurant. This led to Claire Kupchak verbally assaulting both Ms. DiFolco and her husband, and then chasing them out of the restaurant screaming when they exited to avoid a scene. In fact, Claire Kupchak temporarily stood in front of plaintiff's husband's car in an attempt to stop them from leaving," the complaint states.

Two days later, DiFolco says, Maxwell Kupchak and three cohorts came to her house around 11:30 p.m. to exact revenge for, in his mind, snubbing his mom.

After parking down the block, Kupchak and his friends slashed the tires on her car with a knife, "slammed a brick through the back window of plaintiff's car and smashed a boulder through its roof. Once they had destroyed the exterior of the car, defendants attempted to destroy its engine. To this end, they attempted to pour syrup into the engine from a container they brought to the property for that express purpose. For good measure, they also smashed the front gate scones," the complaint states.

It continues: "Next, defendants stopped to throw eggs at DiFolco's home. In fact, some of the eggs were thrown with such force that they penetrated the door frame of the upstairs porch and scattered on the back interior wall of the guest bedroom.

"In a final act of violence and cowardice, after starting to drive away, defendants exited their car and threw more eggs at Ms. DiFolco's home."

Six weeks later, Kupchak and his cronies returned and spray-painted her stone front walkway, the front porch and the sides of the auto gates, DiFolco says.

She says she knows it was Kupchak because a closed circuit camera recorded everything.

The repeated vandalism has given her nightmares and she is "living in fear that another attack is imminent," DiFolco says.

Kupchak could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

DiFolco also seeks medical expenses, lost earnings and earnings capacity, and court costs and fees.

She is represented by Douglas Caiafa, who did not immediately return emailed requests for comment Thursday.

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