Buttafuoco faces charges of insurance fraud, theft

Buttafuoco faces chargesof insurance fraud, theft
LOS ANGELES -- Joey Buttafuoco, whose affair with a teenager led to his wife's shooting in New York, was arrested Wednesday and charged with insurance fraud after being accused of making phony repair estimates at his auto body shop.
Buttafuoco, 47, co-owns California Collision of Chatsworth. He reportedly told undercover investigators how to file phony insurance claims for undamaged cars, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.
Prosecutors charged Buttafuoco with three counts of insurance fraud and one count of grand theft. He was being held on $50,000 bail.
The state also has filed a separate action to suspend or revoke the body shop's license, alleging the shop charged customers more than $12,000 for repair work that was not done, according to prosecutors.
A call seeking comment from Buttafuoco's lawyer was not immediately returned.
His arrest was part of an investigation into auto insurance fraud that netted 10 other owners or employees of Southern California repair shops.
While living in New York, Buttafuoco gained notoriety in 1992 when 17-year-old Amy Fisher shot his wife, Mary Jo, in the face.
Fisher, nicknamed the "Long Island Lolita" by the New York tab-loids, served seven years in prison.
It's a Duff-Lohan spatat N.Y. movie premiere
NEW YORK -- It seems that teenage girls are evil pythons full of hormonal rage whether they're in the celebrity spotlight or not.
Hollywood rivals Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan had a silent battle Sunday night, when Duff arrived at her "Cheaper by the Dozen" premiere with Lohan's ex-boyfriend, Aaron Carter. (Word has it that Lohan and Carter broke up after she caught him cheating on her with Duff.)
Lohan arrived with a few friends to the "Cheaper" premiere, where her mere presence was enough to send Duff into a tizzy. And, according to eyewitnesses, Duff was infuriated when she saw Lohan at the after-party for the movie, at Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood.
Duff got her mother and started "freaking out," the New York Post's Page 6 reports. Then Duff's mom, Susan, got her daughter's huge bodyguard to try muscling Lohan out of the party.
Organization puts Aikenon best-mannered list
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Clay Aiken, a runner-up on the Fox network's talent contest "American Idol," heads the National League of Junior Cotillions' list of the "Ten Best-Mannered People of 2003."
The Charlotte-based organization, an etiquette and social training program for young people, announced its 12th annual list Tuesday. Nominations came from cotillion students and directors nationwide.
Anne Colvin Winters, executive director of the league, said selections were based on "demonstration of honor, dignity and respect."
Aiken, 25, was selected "because of the courteous manner in which he treats fellow performers and fans."
His album, "Measure of a Man," was released in October.
The list also includes talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, Gen. Tommy Franks, Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons, surfer Bethany Hamilton, NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw, first lady Laura Bush, actor Mel Gibson, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Notable death
Madlyn Rhue, whose acting career spanned three decades and scores of TV appearances on shows ranging from "Perry Mason" to "Murder, She Wrote," died Tuesday. She was 68. Rhue, who had multiple sclerosis, died from pneumonia and heart failure at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital, where she had lived since 1998, the hospital said.
Today's birthdays
Singer-songwriter Charlie Ryan is 88. Actress Cicely Tyson is 70. Rhythm-and-blues singer-musician Maurice White (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 62. Actor Tim Reid is 59. Paleontologist Richard E. Leakey is 59. Actress Elaine Joyce is 58. Musician John McEuen is 58. Singer Janie Fricke is 56. Actor Mike Lookinland is 43. Actress Jennifer Beals is 40. Actor Robert McNaughton is 37. Rock musician Kevin Shepard is 35. Actress Kristy Swanson is 34. Actress Amy Locane is 32. Actress Rosa Blasi is 31. Actress Alyssa Milano is 31. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 23. Actress Marla Sokoloff is 23.