‘Laguna Beach,’ ‘Hills’ star loses civil case

Reality TV personality punched tow truck driver, used racial slurs

Chris Pizzello / AP file	Reality TV personality Jason Wahler has appeared on two shows on MTV: “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills.”

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updated 4:11 p.m. ET Nov. 6, 2008

LOS ANGELES - A jury says former “Laguna Beach” personality Jason Wahler owes a tow truck driver $5,000 in damages for a confrontation more than two years ago.

Eight women and four men decided on Thursday that Wahler committed battery on Dario Stevenson. The driver said Wahler punched him in the face and hurled racial slurs at him and other blacks during a fight in September 2006.

Wahler, who also appeared on “The Hills,” acknowledged testimony that he used racial slurs. Jurors rejected justifications by Wahler’s attorney that his client was defending his girlfriend and was too drunk to know what he was saying.

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Stevenson may receive punitive damages, but the amount is likely to be drastically smaller than the $1 million his attorney sought.