Allen takes bait, gone ‘catfishing’
ORLANDO, Fla. — Former Celtics guard Ray Allen said he is a victim of “catfishing,” and has asked a court to throw out a case where he is accused of stalking someone he met online.
The retired player filed an emergency motion in Florida’s Orange County yesterday, one day after Bryant Coleman told the court he is being stalked by the 10-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion.
Allen said Coleman is the one who is stalking.
“Coleman pretended to be a number of attractive women interested in Ray Allen,” read the motion filed on Allen’s behalf. “Ray believed he was speaking with these women and communicated with them.”
Attorney David Oscar Markus released a statement saying Allen took legal action in an effort to put an end to threats against him and his family, and that his client was the victim “of an online scheme to extract money and embarrass him by someone who appears to be troubled.”
In the filing, Allen said Coleman threatened to reveal details of their conversations, and that the sides eventually struck a deal to keep everything private. Allen said that deal has been violated and that Coleman has continued to harass him and his family through several socialmedia accounts.
“He posted about Ray’s wife, Ray’s children, Ray’s dog, Ray’s homes, Ray’s wife’s restaurant, and numerous other personal items,” read the motion. “Coleman not only posted about these things, he would actually post while physically located inside Ray’s wife’s restaurant in Orlando. And he would make sure they knew it, tagging Ray and his wife on those posts.”
Allen asked the court to stop Coleman from “cyber-stalking.” It was not clear if Coleman has an attorney, and a working phone number for him could not be found.
“Ray regrets ever engaging with this person online and is thankful they never met in person,” Markus said. “This experience has negatively impacted Ray, and he hopes that others might use his mistake to learn the dangers of communicating online with strangers.”
Allen and his family have lived in the Miami area since he retired in 2014.