Police release incident report raising questions about purported threats at 'Lady in the Lake' set
BALTIMORE -- After the story of threats against the production crew of "Lady in the Lake" gained national attention, Baltimore police released an incident report Tuesday that raises questions about purported threats of violence and an attempt to extort $50,000.
The drama surrounding the production of the TV series continued to unfold on Park Avenue days after filming was shut down.
Baltimore residents expressed disdain at the threats.
Baltimore resident Christopher Schaffer said he was "heartbroken" when he heard of the allegations.
"I love this city," Schaffer said.
"I was appalled," Baltimore resident Bob George said. "Not surprised, I was appalled."
A member of the crew initially told investigators on Friday he had seen a gun that was brandished by individuals demanding $50,000 to film in the 200 block of Park Avenue. But when he was asked to describe the gun, the crew member retracted his initial statement about seeing the firearm and said a driver had viewed it.
"Wow. That's terrible if that's the case," Schaffer said.
That crew member "only stated that he observed a large amount of marijuana '10 hours ago,'" even though the alleged confrontation was said to have happened 30 minutes before officers arrived on the set on Aug. 26, according to the police report.
A woman who was identified as the supervisor for the security firm working the set told investigators a group of people wanted $4,000 to film in the area, but then revised the amount to $50,000, police now say.
She explained "that the group threatened to shoot in the air unless they received the money," according to an incident report. But an officer later determined she did not witness the alleged incident.
An officer spoke with a man at the corner of Park Avenue and West Saratoga Street who matched the description of a suspect given by a member of a crew. He denied bothering the producers and "left the location without further incident," police said.
Police told WJZ on Saturday night production halted after "locals threatened the producers of the movie that if they didn't cease production, they would come back later . . . and shoot someone."
"The locals then told the producers that if they paid them, they would allow the production to continue," a department spokesperson said.
Investigators determined a 43-year-old Pikesville man was upset about the money his clothing business would lose. He "informed detectives that he had talked with a crew member and a security manager and was awaiting paperwork to receive compensation for lost business," police said.
The man was arrested Monday on a drug charge, police said.
Following reports that "drug dealers" had threatened to shoot someone at the downtown Baltimore film set and tried to extort its producers for money, Endeavor Content, the production company behind the Apple TV series, released a statement Monday only saying two men had approached a driver with the company, who had arrived before the cast and crew, and one man brandished a gun.
The driver fled the location.
"Lady in the Lake" stars Natalie Portman and is based on a novel by local author Laura Lippman. The story incorporates two real-life disappearances in Baltimore in 1969 -- one a a young white girl, and the other a young Black woman.
