Newspaper lawyer fires back over Tesla's assault allegations

Attorneys representing RGJ journalists claim Tesla security guards rammed their Jeep, smashed its window with a rock and dragged the driver out of the car.

An attorney representing the Reno Gazette-Journal has fired back at Tesla after the automaker accused two trespassing journalists of assaulting security guards.

Lawyer Scott Glogovac does not dispute that the RGJ staffers were trespassing on Tesla's Gigafactory property near Reno, resulting in a photographer's arrest.

Tesla quickly issued a statement following the incident, accusing the photographer of using his company's Jeep to ram a security guard, allegedly causing scrapes and bleeding lacerations, and strike an ATV carrying several additional security managers.

"This portrayal is scandalous and could not be further from the truth," Glogovac claims.

The RGJ employees claim they had been approached on foot by a security guard who demanded that they hand over their camera. After they "peacefully" walked back to their vehicle, a security guards allegedly escalated the confrontation by ramming their Jeep with an ATV, smashing the side window, cutting the driver's seatbelt and forcibly pulling him from the vehicle and shoving him to the ground.

"Tesla has already (claimed) that the RGJ employees trespassed on Tesla property, but even if they trespassed, that didn't give Tesla the right to attempt to detain or apprehend the employees in the manner it did: smashing a window, brandishing a knife, physically manhandling the photographer," Glogovac added.

The newspaper is said to be considering pushing for criminal assault and battery charges against the security guards, while the employees have been encouraged to pursue civil damage claims. The driver of the RGJ vehicle had been charged with several felonies, however no criminal complaint has been filed in court as of Monday. Additional details could emerge at an arraignment hearing on November 18.