The Baltimore Police Department has walked back its initial report of a violent threat on the set of the AppleTV+ series "Lady in the Lake" and arrested a street vendor at the center of its ongoing investigation.
On Tuesday, the police department said detectives investigating the case had "determined that a local street vendor was upset that he had not been compensated by the production for lost business, since he could not operate his clothing business while the crew was filming at that location."
Authorities arrested 43-year-old Keith L. Brown of Pikesville, Maryland, on Monday on narcotics charges. Brown told detectives that "he had talked with a crew member and a security manager and was awaiting paperwork to receive compensation for lost business," according to the police department's press release.
The press release also noted that "preliminary information reported that a crew member had received a verbal threat of violence from an individual, who he alleged also brandished a firearm." However, a police report provided Tuesday to the L.A. Times shows that the above narrative was later deemed "inaccurate" and that "the victim's recollection of the incident changed during the investigation."
Over the weekend, Baltimore law enforcement told media outlets — including the L.A. Times — that "locals" had threatened to "shoot someone" on the set of the show and attempted to extort $50,000 from producers. The L.A. Times was later informed that no producers were present during the incident.
A representative for Endeavor Content, which is producing the project, told the L.A. Times earlier this week that two men had confronted and brandished a gun at a driver on the "Lady in the Lake" production crew Friday before fleeing the scene.
The Endeavor Content rep did not immediately respond Tuesday to the L.A. Times' request for comment.
According to a police report filed by officer Sharrod Mobley on Aug. 26, a location manager on the limited series claimed that "individuals demanded that he pay $50,000 in order to film [on 200 Park Ave.] and that they pulled a gun and brandished it at one of the workers."
At first, the location manager told police that he personally saw a gun before clarifying that one of the drivers on the production crew had seen the weapon when asked to describe the firearm. The police report also noted that the location manager "observed a large amount of marijuana" during the alleged altercation.
But a supplementary report filed by officer Steven Langjahr clarified that the location manager "did not witness the incident and made a report on behalf of their 'driver.'" Langjahr added that "Officer Mobley's investigation revealed the [location manager] to be inconsistent with their reporting of the incident."
Langjahr also recalled speaking with a member of the production crew "who stated that there were a few people being disruptive" but did not allege any crimes were committed. Langjahr wrote that an "unidentified male individual" near the scene was being "argumentative" while denying that he was "giving the film crew a hard time." The individual, who was accused only of "being disruptive to the crew," eventually left the location and did not return, according to Langjahr.
As of Tuesday morning, detectives were still "in the process of interviewing additional individuals" for the investigation, according to Lindsey Eldridge, a spokesperson for the police department.
Adapted from bestselling author Laura Lippman's novel of the same name, "Lady in the Lake" stars Oscar winner Natalie Portman as a housewife-turned-journalist investigating a homicide and Emmy nominee Moses Ingram as an activist fighting for social justice in 1960s Baltimore.
In April, the Maryland Economic Development Association announced that "Lady in the Lake" had begun shooting in the state and that it would continue filming "throughout the Baltimore region" until October. According to Deadline, Portman is also an executive producer on the project, co-created by Alma Har'el and Dre Ryan.
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